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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · stock · race · tear · file · band

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. band — a music group
  4. stock — goods
  5. band — a ring
  6. tear — from crying
  7. file — a line of people
  8. tear — from crying
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. race — the arms race
  11. tear — to rip
  12. race — a contest
  13. file — a tool
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. stock — shares
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. file — a document

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