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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. cold — an illness
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. stock — shares
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. toast — bread
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. tube — a container
  15. cold — not warm
  16. present — the time now
  17. degree — an amount
  18. present — a gift
  19. present — there
  20. tube — the underground
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cold — the Cold War

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