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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. degree — temperature
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — a practice
  9. capital — a city
  10. foot — a measure
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. cell — a phone
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. scale — in music
  15. stock — goods
  16. drill — the tool
  17. degree — from a university
  18. capital — money
  19. ground — the earth
  20. degree — an amount
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. scale — size or range
  23. ground — crushed
  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