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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: saw · rash · mine · bass · can · degree · race · stock

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. saw — the tool
  3. stock — shares
  4. bass — the fish
  5. saw — the tool
  6. race — a contest
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bass — low music
  9. race — humankind
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — a tin
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. rash — a series
  15. can — to be able to
  16. race — the arms race
  17. rash — hasty
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stock — goods

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