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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pound — a weight
  3. stock — shares
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. stock — goods
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. land — ground
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. degree — temperature
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. land — to come down
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. land — a country
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. vault — a safe

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