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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · content · prune · stock · mine · chair · march · bat

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. degree — temperature
  3. stock — shares
  4. mine — for digging
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bat — the animal
  10. march — music
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — from a university
  13. march — the month
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. march — the month
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. content — happy
  21. stock — goods
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. content — the amount
  24. chair — a leader

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