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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 116 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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. degree — from a university
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. court — of a king
  5. present — there
  6. spring — a coil
  7. lean — to bend
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. spring — of water
  10. degree — an amount
  11. clip — to cut
  12. court — of law
  13. court — for sport
  14. dip — to sink
  15. present — the time now
  16. spring — the season
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. stock — goods
  20. present — a gift
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. degree — temperature
  23. lean — thin
  24. dip — to dunk

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