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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 124 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. last — final
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. bore — to tire
  5. firm — steady
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. degree — from a university
  9. firm — decided
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. degree — an amount
  13. content — the amount
  14. bat — the animal
  15. chip — to eat
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. firm — a company
  21. last — finally
  22. degree — temperature
  23. content — happy
  24. last — to go on

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