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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: chair · hand · pop · pound · mark · trunk · degree · stock

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. pop — soda
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. pop — music
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. mark — a trace
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pop — to visit
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. pound — a weight
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. mark — a grade
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — shares
  23. degree — from a university
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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