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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 ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. season — in sport
  3. degree — from a university
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chip — for betting
  6. race — a contest
  7. stock — goods
  8. race — the arms race
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. hand — in cards
  11. chip — to eat
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. degree — an amount
  14. hand — help
  15. stock — shares
  16. season — of the year
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — a series
  22. race — humankind
  23. degree — temperature
  24. season — to add flavour

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