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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. degree — an amount
  3. can — to be able to
  4. lean — to bend
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. can — a tin
  7. court — of a king
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. field — for sport
  12. snap — to click
  13. court — for sport
  14. degree — temperature
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. field — farmland
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. stock — shares
  19. lean — thin
  20. court — of law
  21. degree — from a university
  22. stock — goods
  23. can — a tin
  24. field — a subject

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