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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. last — to go on
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. hand — help
  5. pit — a hole
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. degree — from a university
  9. current — of water
  10. last — final
  11. degree — temperature
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. last — finally
  14. pit — in a race
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wind — moving air
  18. current — happening now
  19. current — electric
  20. hand — in cards
  21. degree — an amount
  22. date — the fruit
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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