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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: bark · stock · face · rest · degree · bass · sharp · mouse

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. rest — what's left
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. face — part of the head
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. sharp — clever
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rest — a break
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bass — the fish
  14. stock — shares
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. degree — an amount
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — to point toward
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. rest — what's left
  24. stock — goods

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