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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. stock — goods
  3. content — happy
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. fall — the season
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. band — a ring
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tear — to rip
  10. fall — to drop
  11. stock — shares
  12. content — the amount
  13. tear — from crying
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. band — a music group
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. tear — from crying
  18. foot — a measure

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