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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bark · march · cabinet · wound · content · stock · lash · degree

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. degree — from a university
  5. march — the month
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. march — the month
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wound — an injury
  12. degree — an amount
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — goods
  19. content — happy
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. march — music
  23. content — the amount
  24. lash — an eyelash

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