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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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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: drill · sharp · club · rest · degree · bound · perch · stock

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — goods
  3. rest — what's left
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. drill — a practice
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — a group
  8. perch — the fish
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — certain
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. rest — a break
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bound — tied together
  15. degree — temperature
  16. drill — army training
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. club — for dancing
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. degree — from a university
  21. drill — the tool
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. rest — what's left

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