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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. file — a line of people
  4. club — for dancing
  5. degree — temperature
  6. club — for golf
  7. degree — an amount
  8. club — a group
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. squash — the sport
  13. file — a document
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — shares
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. file — a tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. pitch — completely

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