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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. band — a music group
  3. track — a song
  4. track — a path
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. wind — moving air
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. fine — all right
  13. stock — goods
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. stock — shares
  17. track — to keep track
  18. pitch — completely

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