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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. lean — thin
  3. degree — an amount
  4. clip — a video
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. clip — to cut
  7. branch — a division
  8. degree — from a university
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. degree — temperature
  11. object — a thing
  12. game — a match
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. object — to protest
  17. lean — to bend
  18. kick — in football
  19. game — wild animals
  20. clip — for paper
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. stock — goods
  24. object — an aim

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