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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: ground · stock · bat · bound · chest · trunk · degree · bowl

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. ground — crushed
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. ground — a position
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. stock — goods
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bound — tied together
  10. stock — shares
  11. bound — obliged
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chest — a box
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bound — certain
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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