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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. mark — a grade
  3. stock — shares
  4. bark — to shout
  5. face — part of the head
  6. object — a thing
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. face — to confront
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. object — an aim
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. face — to point toward
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. degree — temperature
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. object — to protest
  20. stock — goods
  21. clip — to cut
  22. mark — a trace
  23. clip — a video
  24. degree — an amount

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