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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. file — a line of people
  3. file — a tool
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — clever
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. degree — from a university
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. date — the fruit
  14. chair — a leader
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — to crush
  17. degree — an amount
  18. file — a document
  19. rush — hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. stock — goods
  23. sharp — exactly
  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