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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 120 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: stock · mine · rash · degree · kick · racket · perch · chip

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. rash — hasty
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. degree — an amount
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. degree — from a university
  11. chip — to eat
  12. stock — goods
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. chip — for betting
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — temperature
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. mine — for digging
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. rash — a series
  22. stock — shares
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. rash — on the skin

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