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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 · scale · degree · fall · sharp · ground · bark · net

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. degree — temperature
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stock — goods
  6. fall — to drop
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bark — to shout
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. ground — a position
  13. net — after costs
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. net — for catching
  16. degree — from a university
  17. scale — in music
  18. fall — the season
  19. stock — shares
  20. net — in sport
  21. scale — size or range
  22. ground — the earth
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. fall — to drop

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