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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 120 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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — goods
  3. band — a ring
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. band — a music group
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. land — a country
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. row — a line
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. land — ground
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. stand — to bear
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. row — to paddle
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. land — to come down
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. wake — a trail

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