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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 · bulb · hand · pop · stock · degree · snap · spring

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — music
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. hand — in cards
  10. spring — of water
  11. degree — an amount
  12. march — the month
  13. snap — to click
  14. degree — from a university
  15. spring — the season
  16. bulb — for light
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. stock — shares
  21. pop — soda
  22. bulb — for light
  23. hand — help
  24. spring — a coil

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