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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. scale — size or range
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. game — a match
  9. degree — an amount
  10. spring — a coil
  11. degree — temperature
  12. spring — of water
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. spring — the season
  15. race — the arms race
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. game — wild animals
  18. scale — in music
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. stand — to bear
  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