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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 120 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: wake · march · hand · mark · root · game · mine · stock

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. stock — shares
  3. march — music
  4. game — wild animals
  5. root — the cause
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. march — the month
  9. stock — goods
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. game — a match
  13. root — of a plant
  14. hand — in cards
  15. root — of a word
  16. march — the month
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wake — a trail
  21. mark — a trace
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. hand — help
  24. mark — a grade

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