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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. stock — shares
  3. swing — to play on
  4. season — in sport
  5. degree — from a university
  6. stock — goods
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. season — of the year
  9. clip — for paper
  10. degree — an amount
  11. roll — a list
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. stem — to come from
  14. clip — to cut
  15. degree — temperature
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. branch — a division
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. roll — a cake
  22. swing — in golf
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. clip — a video

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