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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: rush · game · stock · lash · content · swing · fall · degree

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. rush — hurry
  3. fall — to drop
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. degree — from a university
  6. game — a match
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. swing — music
  10. content — happy
  11. stock — goods
  12. content — the amount
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. degree — temperature
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. swing — in golf
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. stock — shares
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. degree — an amount
  23. swing — to play on
  24. game — wild animals

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