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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. rash — hasty
  5. degree — an amount
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bound — certain
  8. content — happy
  9. bound — obliged
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. pitch — completely
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bound — tied together
  14. rash — a series
  15. stock — shares
  16. cap — of ice
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. prune — to trim
  21. content — the amount
  22. cap — a lid
  23. prune — to trim
  24. stock — goods

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