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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. row — a line
  3. rule — government
  4. spell — magic
  5. rule — a law
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — the sport
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. spell — letters
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. stock — shares
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. row — to paddle
  14. squash — to crush
  15. march — the month
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. degree — an amount
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stock — goods
  20. march — music
  21. spell — a short time
  22. march — the month
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. degree — from a university

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