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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: stem · degree · hide · court · kick · clip · stock · chip

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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 — temperature
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. court — for sport
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. stock — goods
  10. chip — for betting
  11. kick — in football
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. court — of law
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. stem — to come from
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. court — of a king
  24. clip — for paper

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