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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: degree · stock · march · fan · chest · capital · rush · vault

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. march — the month
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. stock — goods
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. rush — hurry
  10. chest — of your body
  11. capital — money
  12. chest — a box
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. chest — of your body
  15. vault — a safe
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. march — the month
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. stock — shares
  22. degree — an amount
  23. march — music
  24. capital — a city

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