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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 120 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: stock · degree · court · firm · face · chip · wound · patient

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. firm — steady
  3. wound — an injury
  4. face — part of the head
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. stock — goods
  8. face — to confront
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. firm — a company
  12. stock — shares
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. chip — to eat
  15. court — of law
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — temperature
  18. firm — decided
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. wound — an injury
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of a king
  24. chip — for betting

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