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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. degree — from a university
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. capital — money
  5. cell — in biology
  6. capital — a city
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. degree — an amount
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — temperature
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cell — a phone
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. stock — goods
  23. prune — to trim
  24. stock — shares

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