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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 120 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. degree — from a university
  3. field — a subject
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pitch — completely
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. pound — a weight
  9. degree — temperature
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. stock — shares
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kick — in football
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. field — for sport
  16. chip — to eat
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. chip — for betting
  20. stock — goods
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. degree — an amount
  23. field — farmland
  24. pitch — a sports field

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