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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. rock — music
  3. stock — shares
  4. spring — of water
  5. cell — a phone
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. degree — temperature
  9. drill — army training
  10. spring — the season
  11. rock — a stone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. drill — a practice
  15. degree — an amount
  16. drill — the tool
  17. prune — to trim
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. degree — from a university
  21. stock — goods
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. rock — to move gently

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