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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cell — a phone
  4. mate — a friend
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. degree — an amount
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. stock — goods
  10. cell — in biology
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pass — a permit
  19. swing — music
  20. mate — a partner
  21. stock — shares
  22. mate — to breed
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. swing — to play on

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