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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. degree — temperature
  6. scale — in music
  7. bass — low music
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. firm — steady
  10. bat — the animal
  11. firm — decided
  12. degree — an amount
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. game — a match
  16. firm — a company
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stock — goods
  19. bass — the fish
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. scale — size or range
  23. court — of a king
  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