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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: ground · press · arm · court · stock · track · content · degree

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. degree — temperature
  3. ground — the earth
  4. track — a song
  5. court — for sport
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a path
  8. content — happy
  9. degree — an amount
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. ground — a position
  12. press — a publisher
  13. court — of law
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. degree — from a university
  16. press — newspapers
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. press — to push
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. court — of a king
  23. ground — crushed
  24. stock — shares

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