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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. mug — a cup
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stock — goods
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mug — a face
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. degree — from a university
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. mug — to rob
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. stock — shares
  19. cell — a phone
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. vault — a safe
  24. cell — in biology

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