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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. rush — hurry
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chair — a leader
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — the earth
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stock — shares
  10. snap — to click
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. pop — soda
  14. stock — goods
  15. spell — a short time
  16. pop — to visit
  17. spell — magic
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. spell — letters
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. ground — a position

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