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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. last — final
  5. stock — goods
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. stock — shares
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. date — the fruit
  11. band — a ring
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. last — finally
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — the underground
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. tube — a container
  21. last — to go on
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. coach — a trainer

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