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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: fall · squash · patient · stock · ground · game · degree · pitcher

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. degree — temperature
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. ground — a position
  7. degree — from a university
  8. fall — to drop
  9. game — wild animals
  10. fall — to drop
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fall — the season
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. ground — crushed
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. squash — the sport
  17. ground — the earth
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. stock — shares
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. squash — to crush
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — goods

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