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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. toast — bread
  3. stock — goods
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. swing — in golf
  6. swing — to play on
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. perch — the fish
  14. dip — to sink
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. degree — temperature
  18. swing — music
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bat — the animal

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