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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. rest — a break
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. stock — goods
  6. cap — of ice
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rest — what's left
  16. degree — an amount
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. content — happy
  19. rest — what's left
  20. content — the amount
  21. cap — a lid
  22. stock — shares
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. cap — a hat

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