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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cell — in biology
  3. stock — goods
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. land — to come down
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mark — a trace
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. rule — a law
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. band — a ring
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. rule — government
  22. stock — shares
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mark — a grade

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