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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. hand — help
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. fork — in a road
  5. hand — in cards
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. stock — shares
  9. bank — for money
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. band — a ring
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. field — farmland
  15. kid — child
  16. field — a subject
  17. content — happy
  18. bank — for money
  19. content — the amount
  20. stock — goods
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bank — of a river
  23. field — for sport
  24. kid — to tease

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