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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: rash · march · kid · cap · stock · mark · leaves · cold

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. rash — hasty
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. cap — a hat
  9. march — the month
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. stock — goods
  14. march — the month
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cap — a lid
  17. mark — a trace
  18. mark — a grade
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kid — to tease
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. kid — child
  23. rash — a series
  24. march — music

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