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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — all right
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. stock — goods
  6. fine — high quality
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stock — shares
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cold — an illness
  16. net — in sport
  17. wind — moving air
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. net — for catching
  21. cold — not warm
  22. net — after costs
  23. degree — from a university
  24. hide — to keep secret

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