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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: bear · degree · current · perch · ball · cold · stock · march

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ball — a dance
  4. march — the month
  5. perch — the fish
  6. march — the month
  7. current — of water
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stock — shares
  11. march — music
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cold — not warm
  14. current — electric
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — goods
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bear — the animal
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ball — a great time
  24. current — happening now

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