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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · lash · bowl · content · roll · degree · saw · stock

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. march — music
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — shares
  7. content — the amount
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. roll — a cake
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. march — the month
  15. saw — the tool
  16. degree — from a university
  17. roll — a list
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. march — the month
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. saw — the tool
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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