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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. march — the month
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bound — certain
  6. march — the month
  7. hand — in cards
  8. field — for sport
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. stock — shares
  12. degree — an amount
  13. field — a subject
  14. bound — tied together
  15. field — farmland
  16. march — music
  17. bound — obliged
  18. degree — from a university

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