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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 116 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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — shares
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. land — to come down
  7. firm — a company
  8. prune — to trim
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. land — a country
  11. pop — soda
  12. current — electric
  13. firm — steady
  14. pop — to visit
  15. degree — temperature
  16. prune — to trim
  17. firm — decided
  18. current — of water
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pop — music
  24. current — happening now

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