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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: march · stand · pop · saw · game · ground · kid · stock

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  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. saw — the tool
  2. game — wild animals
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. stock — shares
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — music
  8. march — the month
  9. game — a match
  10. pop — to visit
  11. stand — to bear
  12. march — music
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. ground — the earth
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. kid — to tease
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. march — the month
  20. saw — the tool
  21. ground — crushed
  22. kid — child
  23. ground — a position
  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