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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: perch · stock · pit · hand · wound · degree · jam · cabinet

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hand — help
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. hand — in cards
  10. degree — from a university
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. degree — temperature
  15. stock — goods
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. stock — shares
  22. pit — in a race
  23. perch — the fish
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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