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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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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. net — in sport
  3. pop — soda
  4. pop — to visit
  5. file — a document
  6. pop — music
  7. file — a tool
  8. stock — shares
  9. stock — goods
  10. band — a ring
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. band — a music group
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — for catching
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. mine — for digging

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