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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. bear — the animal
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stock — goods
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. tear — to rip
  10. degree — temperature
  11. tear — from crying
  12. land — to come down
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. present — a gift
  15. land — a country
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. spring — of water
  19. present — there
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. land — ground
  23. tear — from crying
  24. stock — shares

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