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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 116 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. degree — from a university
  3. present — there
  4. stock — goods
  5. present — the time now
  6. swing — to play on
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. degree — an amount
  11. stock — shares
  12. swing — in golf
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. degree — temperature
  17. vault — a safe
  18. tear — from crying
  19. race — the arms race
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — a contest
  24. swing — music

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