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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. pit — in a race
  5. drill — army training
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. content — happy
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. chair — a leader
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. pit — a hole
  14. drill — the tool
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. drill — a practice
  17. content — the amount
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. degree — temperature
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. stock — goods
  24. temple — a place of worship

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