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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: prune · deal · degree · patient · mug · sharp · stock · plane

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stock — shares
  3. degree — from a university
  4. mug — a face
  5. deal — to handle
  6. plane — a tool
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. mug — a cup
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. degree — temperature
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. sharp — clever
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. prune — to trim
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. mug — to rob
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. prune — to trim
  24. stock — goods

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