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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 116 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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. can — to be able to
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. can — a tin
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bat — the animal
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. can — a tin
  16. squash — the sport
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stock — goods
  19. squash — to crush
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. stock — shares
  23. snap — to click
  24. net — after costs

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