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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. degree — an amount
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. sharp — clever
  9. shower — rain
  10. stock — shares
  11. foot — a measure
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. land — ground
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. stock — goods
  24. wound — an injury

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