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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 116 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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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 instrument
  3. march — music
  4. bass — low music
  5. dip — to sink
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — shares
  12. march — the month
  13. field — for sport
  14. march — the month
  15. field — a subject
  16. fall — the season
  17. bass — the fish
  18. fall — to drop
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fall — to drop
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. field — farmland
  24. degree — an amount

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