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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: rule · march · date · vault · cold · net · staff · stock

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  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. march — the month
  2. net — after costs
  3. staff — employees
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. march — music
  9. rule — government
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rule — a law
  13. net — in sport
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — a stick
  18. stock — shares
  19. vault — a safe
  20. date — the fruit
  21. cold — an illness
  22. net — for catching
  23. stock — goods
  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