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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · pitcher · object · march · straw · stock · rule · bark

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. rule — a law
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. march — music
  6. stock — goods
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. degree — from a university
  14. object — a thing
  15. rule — government
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. stock — shares
  18. object — an aim
  19. degree — temperature
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. march — the month
  24. object — to protest

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