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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 116 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: bound · stock · row · bat · file · squash · firm · degree

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. row — to paddle
  4. firm — decided
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. file — a tool
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — certain
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bat — the animal
  14. stock — goods
  15. row — a line
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. degree — from a university
  19. stock — shares
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bound — obliged
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. firm — a company

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