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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ground — a position
  4. club — for golf
  5. rock — music
  6. club — for dancing
  7. ground — crushed
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. file — a tool
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. degree — an amount
  12. foot — a measure
  13. bat — the animal
  14. file — a line of people
  15. club — a group
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. stock — shares
  20. degree — temperature
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. rock — a stone
  23. stock — goods
  24. ground — the earth

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