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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bound — tied together
  4. mate — to breed
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mate — a friend
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — the season
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bound — obliged
  13. chest — a box
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. mate — a partner
  17. spring — a coil
  18. saw — the tool
  19. stock — shares
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. spring — of water
  23. stock — goods
  24. bound — certain

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