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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — to play on
  4. stock — goods
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. kick — in football
  11. shower — rain
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. club — a group
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. club — for golf
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. club — for dancing
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. shower — to wash
  21. swing — music
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. stock — shares
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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