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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: net · degree · firm · season · cabinet · chest · stock · mark

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. mark — a grade
  5. stock — goods
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. season — of the year
  10. chest — of your body
  11. degree — an amount
  12. firm — steady
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. net — after costs
  15. degree — temperature
  16. net — in sport
  17. firm — a company
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. firm — decided
  20. degree — from a university
  21. net — for catching
  22. mark — a trace
  23. season — in sport
  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