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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. degree — an amount
  3. staff — employees
  4. degree — from a university
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stock — shares
  7. track — to keep track
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — for digging
  10. staff — a stick
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. track — a song
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. stock — goods
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — an illness
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. track — a path
  24. patient — a sick person

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