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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: bat · rest · game · firm · stock · key · bark · degree

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. rest — what's left
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — wild animals
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rest — a break
  8. bat — the animal
  9. key — for a lock
  10. stock — shares
  11. firm — decided
  12. game — a match
  13. stock — goods
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. firm — steady
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. degree — temperature
  19. key — in music
  20. rest — what's left
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bark — to shout
  23. firm — a company
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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