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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. roll — a cake
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. last — final
  7. stock — goods
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. last — to go on
  11. bound — certain
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. stock — shares
  15. deal — to handle
  16. degree — from a university
  17. lie — to recline
  18. last — finally
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bound — obliged
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. bound — tied together
  23. wake — a trail
  24. roll — a list

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com