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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 120 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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pit — a hole
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. degree — from a university
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. wound — an injury
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a music group
  12. game — wild animals
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. pit — in a race
  15. stock — goods
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. degree — temperature
  19. lie — to recline
  20. wound — an injury
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. stock — shares
  23. game — a match
  24. lie — an untruth

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