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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. rush — hurry
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. degree — an amount
  5. pop — soda
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stock — goods
  8. swing — to play on
  9. row — to paddle
  10. swing — in golf
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. swing — music
  13. row — a line
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stem — to come from
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. vault — a safe
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. pop — music
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. degree — from a university
  23. stock — shares
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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