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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: sharp · row · game · stock · degree · lie · bass · race

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. row — a line
  6. race — humankind
  7. degree — an amount
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. stock — goods
  10. lie — to recline
  11. game — a match
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — shares
  15. degree — from a university
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. degree — temperature
  21. game — wild animals
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. game — a kind of play

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