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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: cap · degree · bulb · game · bass · wake · face · stock

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. cap — of ice
  3. face — part of the head
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. bulb — for light
  7. stock — shares
  8. degree — an amount
  9. game — a match
  10. bass — low music
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. face — to point toward
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. bass — the fish
  19. wake — a trail
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cap — a hat
  22. face — to confront
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bass — the instrument

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