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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: rock · saw · land · bat · cabinet · wake · stock · degree

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. land — a country
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bat — the animal
  9. saw — the tool
  10. land — to come down
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. saw — the tool
  13. stock — shares
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. land — ground
  16. rock — a stone
  17. wake — a trail
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. rock — music
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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