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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. degree — temperature
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bass — the fish
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bass — low music
  11. staff — employees
  12. wind — moving air
  13. staff — employees
  14. degree — an amount
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. cold — an illness
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. stock — shares
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — not warm
  22. degree — from a university
  23. stock — goods
  24. staff — a stick

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