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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fine — all right
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. kid — child
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. stock — shares
  7. scale — size or range
  8. snap — to click
  9. pit — a hole
  10. stock — goods
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pit — in a race
  13. degree — from a university
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. fine — high quality
  18. kid — to tease
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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