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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · fine · chair · stock · degree · cell

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. stock — shares
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fine — all right
  8. stock — goods
  9. degree — temperature
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cell — in biology
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cell — a phone
  15. chair — a leader
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cell — in a prison

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