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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: stock · march · sharp · game · pass · cell · content · roll

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. game — a match
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. content — the amount
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. march — music
  8. stock — shares
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. roll — a cake
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. stock — goods
  13. pass — a permit
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. game — wild animals
  18. march — the month
  19. roll — a list
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — a phone
  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