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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. pass — a permit
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stock — shares
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. field — farmland
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. season — of the year
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. tube — the underground
  17. stock — goods
  18. field — a subject
  19. season — in sport
  20. branch — a division
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. swing — to play on
  24. field — for sport

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