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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. stock — goods
  3. tear — from crying
  4. scale — in music
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. degree — an amount
  12. tear — from crying
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. scale — size or range
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. degree — temperature
  22. stock — shares
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. wound — an injury

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