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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: march · face · degree · squash · mine · stock · fan · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. stock — goods
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mine — for digging
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. march — music
  10. face — part of the head
  11. squash — the sport
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. march — the month
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. march — the month
  21. stock — shares
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. squash — to crush
  24. degree — from a university

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