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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: stock · degree · snap · scale · mate · bat · bass · sharp

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. bass — low music
  4. snap — to click
  5. scale — size or range
  6. sharp — clever
  7. stock — shares
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. scale — in music
  10. mate — to breed
  11. degree — an amount
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bass — the fish
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. stock — goods
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. mate — a partner
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bat — the animal
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. mate — a friend

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