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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: hide · clip · pit · roll · degree · chair · stock · hand

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. degree — from a university
  7. roll — a list
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. stock — goods
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. chair — a leader
  15. hand — help
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. hand — in cards
  19. clip — to cut
  20. degree — temperature
  21. roll — a cake
  22. clip — a video
  23. stock — shares
  24. pit — in a race

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