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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. pitch — completely
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. net — for catching
  9. stock — shares
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. stock — goods
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. lie — to recline
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. net — after costs
  21. spring — the season
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. net — in sport

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