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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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Word bank
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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: bat · chest · degree · rule · can · field · stock · hide

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. stock — goods
  3. field — for sport
  4. can — to be able to
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. degree — from a university
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. chest — a box
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rule — government
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. field — farmland
  13. stock — shares
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. degree — temperature
  19. chest — of your body
  20. can — a tin
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rule — a law
  23. can — a tin
  24. bat — in an idiom

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