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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: bark · hide · degree · march · fan · saw · stock · patient

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. degree — temperature
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. degree — from a university
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. march — music
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. march — the month
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. stock — shares
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. saw — the tool
  18. stock — goods
  19. saw — the tool
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bark — to shout
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. degree — an amount

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