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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: game · pop · bat · saw · bound · stock · tube · degree

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. stock — shares
  3. saw — the tool
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bat — the animal
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — a match
  8. pop — music
  9. degree — temperature
  10. game — wild animals
  11. degree — an amount
  12. saw — the tool
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pop — soda
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. bound — certain
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — a container
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bound — tied together
  24. tube — in a tire

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