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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: bat · stock · net · degree · spell · swing · cold · can

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. stock — goods
  4. bat — the animal
  5. swing — music
  6. net — for catching
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. degree — an amount
  10. can — a tin
  11. degree — from a university
  12. can — a tin
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spell — magic
  15. can — to be able to
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stock — shares
  18. cold — not warm
  19. spell — letters
  20. swing — in golf
  21. net — after costs
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. swing — to play on
  24. net — in sport

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