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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — for catching
  4. file — a tool
  5. present — the time now
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. net — in sport
  12. ground — crushed
  13. stock — goods
  14. file — a line of people
  15. present — there
  16. present — a gift
  17. ground — a position
  18. roll — a cake
  19. ground — the earth
  20. file — a document
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — on a roll

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