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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. march — the month
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bank — of a river
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. date — the fruit
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. band — a music group
  12. march — music
  13. bank — for money
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. track — to keep track
  16. bank — for money
  17. track — a path
  18. track — a song
  19. march — the month
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. band — a ring
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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