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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. squash — the sport
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. court — for sport
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. cell — in biology
  7. field — for sport
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. court — of a king
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. stock — shares
  13. field — a subject
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. stock — goods
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. squash — to crush
  23. field — farmland
  24. court — of law

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