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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. swing — to play on
  3. stock — shares
  4. degree — temperature
  5. stock — goods
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. row — a line
  8. pitch — completely
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. swing — in golf
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pop — music
  13. chip — to eat
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. degree — from a university
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. swing — music
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. chip — for betting
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. pop — soda
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chip — in a computer

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