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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. clip — a video
  4. chip — for betting
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. staff — employees
  7. stock — goods
  8. pop — to visit
  9. march — the month
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. clip — for paper
  12. staff — employees
  13. clip — to cut
  14. staff — a stick
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. degree — from a university
  17. pop — soda
  18. march — music
  19. chip — to eat
  20. stock — shares
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pop — music
  24. march — the month

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