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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. degree — temperature
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. hand — in cards
  5. stock — goods
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. ground — crushed
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. board — to get on
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. ground — the earth
  13. hand — help
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wax — to grow
  18. rash — a series
  19. snap — to click
  20. ground — a position
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. degree — from a university
  23. board — a committee
  24. board — a flat piece

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