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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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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 · pound · band · prune · bass · march · roll · degree

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. degree — an amount
  3. band — a ring
  4. stock — shares
  5. roll — a list
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pound — a weight
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bass — low music
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. degree — temperature
  14. march — the month
  15. prune — to trim
  16. march — music
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. bass — the fish
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. march — the month
  21. band — a music group
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. stock — goods
  24. roll — a cake

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