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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: wound · fall · march · rock · rash · degree · stand · sharp

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  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. rash — hasty
  2. march — the month
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — clever
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rock — music
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. fall — to drop
  12. march — music
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. degree — temperature
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. fall — the season
  17. degree — from a university
  18. rock — a stone
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rash — a series
  21. march — the month
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — to bear
  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