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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. rest — a break
  3. wound — an injury
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — wild animals
  8. band — a music group
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mate — a partner
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. band — a ring
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mate — a friend
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. rest — what's left
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. rest — what's left
  22. degree — temperature
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. wound — an injury

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