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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. ground — a position
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. hand — help
  5. degree — temperature
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. ground — crushed
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. rule — a law
  10. degree — an amount
  11. snap — to click
  12. track — a song
  13. ground — the earth
  14. stock — shares
  15. track — to keep track
  16. swing — music
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. swing — to play on
  19. rule — government
  20. degree — from a university
  21. hand — in cards
  22. swing — in golf
  23. stock — goods
  24. hand — part of the body

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