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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — shares
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. degree — temperature
  11. field — for sport
  12. degree — an amount
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. rush — hurry
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. degree — from a university
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. wind — moving air

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