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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. cell — a phone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. staff — employees
  5. degree — an amount
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. stock — shares
  9. cell — in biology
  10. roll — a cake
  11. degree — from a university
  12. stock — goods
  13. foot — a measure
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. degree — temperature
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. staff — employees
  23. roll — a list
  24. ruler — a monarch

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