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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. stock — goods
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. cold — an illness
  6. scale — size or range
  7. scale — in music
  8. swing — music
  9. stock — shares
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rock — a stone
  13. rock — music
  14. mark — a grade
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. swing — in golf
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. mark — a trace

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