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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. stock — shares
  3. last — final
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. last — finally
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. stock — goods
  9. bear — the animal
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. pass — a permit
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. last — to go on
  16. bear — the animal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. band — a ring
  20. hand — help
  21. band — a music group
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

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