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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. charge — electricity
  3. bound — obliged
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. degree — temperature
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. charge — a price
  8. bound — tied together
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. degree — from a university
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stock — shares
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bound — certain
  17. charge — in control
  18. track — to keep track
  19. saw — the tool
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. shower — to wash
  22. stock — goods
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. shower — rain

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