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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. staff — a stick
  5. bass — the fish
  6. field — a subject
  7. bass — low music
  8. field — for sport
  9. date — the fruit
  10. stock — goods
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. spell — letters
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. field — farmland
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — employees
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — magic
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bowl — a football final

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