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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. stock — shares
  3. pass — a permit
  4. degree — an amount
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bass — the fish
  8. stock — goods
  9. degree — from a university
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. content — the amount
  13. net — in sport
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. degree — temperature
  17. current — of water
  18. current — happening now
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. content — happy
  22. net — after costs
  23. current — electric
  24. net — for catching

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