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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. degree — an amount
  7. squash — the sport
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. degree — temperature
  14. last — final
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. last — to go on
  17. squash — to crush
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. perch — the fish
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. last — finally

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