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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. clip — for paper
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — shares
  5. fall — the season
  6. degree — temperature
  7. last — final
  8. clip — a video
  9. fall — to drop
  10. clip — to cut
  11. last — to go on
  12. swing — in golf
  13. fall — to drop
  14. swing — to play on
  15. last — finally
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. ground — crushed
  23. degree — an amount
  24. stock — a soup base

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