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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: tube · stock · degree · court · march · roll · cell · cap

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. stock — goods
  3. roll — a cake
  4. court — of law
  5. march — music
  6. cap — of ice
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. court — of a king
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cap — a lid
  12. stock — shares
  13. roll — a list
  14. tube — the underground
  15. cap — a hat
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. march — the month
  20. degree — an amount
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. court — for sport
  23. cell — in biology
  24. tube — a container

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