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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. stand — to bear
  14. stock — goods
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ball — a great time
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. stock — shares
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. bark — to shout

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