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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 · bat · rest · rule · march · net · bound · drill

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  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. drill — the tool
  2. rule — a law
  3. net — after costs
  4. drill — a practice
  5. net — for catching
  6. rule — government
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — shares
  9. rest — a break
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bound — certain
  14. net — in sport
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. march — music
  17. bound — obliged
  18. drill — army training
  19. bound — tied together
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. bat — the animal
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. march — the month
  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