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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 116 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 · field · march · hand · bound · stock · chip · rest

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bound — certain
  3. chip — to eat
  4. rest — what's left
  5. degree — an amount
  6. hand — in cards
  7. stock — shares
  8. rest — what's left
  9. field — for sport
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. bound — obliged
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rest — a break
  14. march — the month
  15. bound — tied together
  16. field — farmland
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. degree — temperature
  19. march — the month
  20. chip — for betting
  21. field — a subject
  22. hand — help
  23. stock — goods
  24. degree — from a university

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