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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. march — the month
  4. rock — a stone
  5. spring — a coil
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. rock — music
  8. rash — a series
  9. kid — child
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. stock — goods
  12. spring — of water
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. spring — the season
  18. degree — from a university
  19. march — the month
  20. kid — to tease
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. rash — hasty
  24. march — music

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