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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 116 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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. key — the most important part
  3. degree — an amount
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — an illness
  6. key — in music
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. rule — government
  9. mark — a grade
  10. key — for a lock
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cold — not warm
  14. mark — a trace
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. degree — from a university
  18. stock — goods
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stock — shares
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. rule — a law
  24. deal — to handle

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