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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. degree — from a university
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. kid — child
  9. club — for dancing
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. kid — to tease
  13. face — to confront
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. stock — shares
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bass — the fish
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. club — for golf
  20. bass — low music
  21. face — part of the head
  22. club — a group
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — to eat with

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