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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a music group
  3. file — a document
  4. saw — the tool
  5. file — a tool
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. net — after costs
  10. band — a ring
  11. net — for catching
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bear — the animal
  14. file — a line of people
  15. saw — the tool
  16. stock — shares
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bear — the animal
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. stock — goods
  22. date — the fruit
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. net — in sport

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