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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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. racket — a loud noise
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. cap — a hat
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. stock — goods
  8. bass — low music
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cap — a lid
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — for digging
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cap — of ice
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. pop — to visit
  19. face — to point toward
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. stock — shares
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — soda
  24. face — to confront

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