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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. degree — from a university
  5. chest — of your body
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stock — shares
  9. degree — an amount
  10. perch — the fish
  11. season — in sport
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. rule — government
  17. ball — a dance
  18. stock — goods
  19. rule — a law
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. ball — a great time
  22. kid — child
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. chest — a box

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