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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 120 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: object · chest · march · scale · current · stock · degree · cap

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. march — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. object — an aim
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. cap — of ice
  7. chest — of your body
  8. object — a thing
  9. stock — goods
  10. object — to protest
  11. cap — a lid
  12. degree — an amount
  13. current — happening now
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. chest — a box
  17. march — the month
  18. scale — in music
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stock — shares
  22. cap — a hat
  23. degree — from a university
  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