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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. degree — temperature
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — for paper
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. clip — to cut
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. branch — a division
  13. rule — a law
  14. rule — government
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. stock — shares
  17. clip — a video
  18. degree — an amount
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. game — wild animals
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. game — a match
  24. stock — goods

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