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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: mark · file · degree · deal · stock · bat · rule · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. degree — from a university
  3. stock — shares
  4. file — a document
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. mark — a trace
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. file — a line of people
  10. rule — a law
  11. stock — goods
  12. file — a tool
  13. bat — the animal
  14. deal — to handle
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. field — for sport
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. degree — temperature
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. field — a subject
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. degree — an amount

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