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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. mate — to breed
  3. degree — from a university
  4. hand — in cards
  5. current — of water
  6. spring — of water
  7. degree — an amount
  8. hand — help
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. stock — goods
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. rule — government
  13. degree — temperature
  14. rule — a law
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. current — electric
  17. stock — shares
  18. spring — the season
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. current — happening now
  22. spring — a coil
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. mate — a partner

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