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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. stock — goods
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. net — in sport
  5. march — the month
  6. net — for catching
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — wild animals
  9. march — the month
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. band — a music group
  14. net — after costs
  15. march — music
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. dip — to sink
  18. snap — to click
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. dip — a sauce
  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