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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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Word bank
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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: rule · bear · march · band · stock · fork

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. stock — shares
  3. march — the month
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. rule — government
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. rule — a law
  13. stock — goods
  14. bear — the animal
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. fork — in a road
  18. bear — the animal

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