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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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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: degree · stock · march · cell · ground · sharp · cabinet · hide

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cell — in biology
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. degree — from a university
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. stock — goods
  9. march — the month
  10. ground — a position
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. march — the month
  14. degree — an amount
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cell — a phone
  17. march — music
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stock — shares
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — crushed

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