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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: object · stock · rest · track · chip · degree · branch · ground

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stock — goods
  3. ground — crushed
  4. object — to protest
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. degree — from a university
  7. track — a song
  8. object — a thing
  9. track — to keep track
  10. ground — the earth
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. rest — a break
  13. chip — for betting
  14. stock — shares
  15. ground — a position
  16. track — a path
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rest — what's left
  23. object — an aim
  24. rest — what's left

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