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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 · board · stick · spring · stock · rash · degree · lean

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. board — to get on
  3. march — music
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. stock — goods
  6. rash — a series
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. march — the month
  9. lean — thin
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. march — the month
  13. spring — the season
  14. stock — shares
  15. spring — of water
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. rash — hasty
  18. lean — to bend
  19. spring — a coil
  20. board — a committee
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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