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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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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: fan · scale · lash · bear · ball · march · cold · stock

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. ball — a dance
  3. scale — in music
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. march — the month
  7. ball — a great time
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bear — the animal
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bear — the animal
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. stock — goods
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. march — the month
  19. stock — shares
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. scale — size or range

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