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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 120 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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. stock — goods
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. ball — a great time
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. stock — shares
  9. degree — from a university
  10. tear — to rip
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. game — a match
  13. degree — an amount
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. degree — temperature
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. tear — from crying
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. tear — from crying
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — in 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