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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: degree · stock · firm · field · bat · band · craft · mouse

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. stock — goods
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. craft — boats
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stock — shares
  8. band — a ring
  9. firm — decided
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. degree — from a university
  13. firm — a company
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. degree — an amount
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. craft — a skill
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. firm — steady
  22. field — for sport
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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