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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bass — the fish
  3. stock — goods
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. file — a document
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. file — a tool
  11. toast — bread
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. spell — a short time
  14. stock — shares
  15. spell — letters
  16. mine — for digging
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. file — a line of people
  22. degree — temperature
  23. spell — magic
  24. bass — low music

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