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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. club — for dancing
  5. degree — from a university
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. degree — an amount
  9. club — a group
  10. club — for golf
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. kid — to tease
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. straw — a straw man

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