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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 120 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. sharp — clever
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. stock — goods
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. field — farmland
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. scale — in music
  13. degree — temperature
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. scale — size or range
  17. field — for sport
  18. prune — to trim
  19. degree — from a university
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. degree — an amount
  24. field — a subject

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