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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 · degree · stock · straw · cap · charge · date · fork

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. charge — a price
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stock — shares
  6. march — the month
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cap — of ice
  11. fork — in a road
  12. march — music
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — goods
  16. date — the fruit
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. degree — an amount
  19. charge — in control
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cap — a hat
  23. charge — electricity
  24. march — the month

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