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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bass — the fish
  10. chair — a leader
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. branch — a division
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — goods
  23. band — a music group
  24. bass — low music

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