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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. board — to get on
  6. land — a country
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. land — ground
  9. mine — for digging
  10. land — to come down
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. content — happy
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. stock — shares
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. content — the amount
  18. band — a music group
  19. bat — the animal
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. stock — goods
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. board — a committee
  24. bat — for baseball

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