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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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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: cue · wound · content · present · pitch · stock · face · degree

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. stock — shares
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. degree — an amount
  5. content — the amount
  6. face — to point toward
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. present — the time now
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. present — a gift
  11. content — happy
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cue — a signal
  14. face — to confront
  15. stock — goods
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. present — there
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cue — for pool
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pitch — completely
  24. wound — an injury

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