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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. staff — a stick
  3. stock — goods
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. staff — employees
  6. degree — temperature
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cell — a phone
  10. staff — employees
  11. cell — in biology
  12. degree — from a university
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. stock — shares
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. degree — an amount
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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