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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: deal · perch · hand · court · stock · march · degree · patient

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. deal — to handle
  3. hand — help
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. degree — from a university
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. court — for sport
  8. march — the month
  9. hand — in cards
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. court — of a king
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. stock — goods
  16. march — the month
  17. stock — shares
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. perch — the fish
  23. court — of law
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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