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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. game — wild animals
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. game — a match
  5. stock — goods
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. craft — boats
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. degree — an amount
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. board — a committee
  16. degree — temperature
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. band — a ring
  19. board — to get on
  20. craft — a skill
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. stock — shares
  24. degree — from a university

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