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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 116 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. degree — from a university
  3. swing — to play on
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. mate — a friend
  6. tube — the underground
  7. land — to come down
  8. mate — to breed
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stock — shares
  13. land — a country
  14. swing — music
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. chair — a leader
  17. stock — goods
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. degree — an amount
  20. mate — a partner
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. swing — in golf
  23. tube — a container
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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