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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: kid · stock · net · content · file · cue · degree · bat

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cue — for pool
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. net — for catching
  5. content — happy
  6. net — in sport
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stock — shares
  9. net — after costs
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. content — the amount
  14. file — a tool
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. file — a line of people
  17. stock — goods
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. cue — a signal
  21. file — a document
  22. kid — to tease
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cue — a hint

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