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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. stock — shares
  6. rule — a law
  7. game — wild animals
  8. stock — goods
  9. saw — the tool
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. sharp — clever
  13. rule — government
  14. game — a match
  15. degree — an amount
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. swing — in golf
  18. saw — the tool
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — music
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. degree — temperature

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