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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: mine · shower · field · band · lie · stock · stick · squash

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. shower — rain
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — to recline
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. field — for sport
  15. stock — shares
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. field — farmland
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. shower — to wash
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mine — for digging
  23. field — a subject
  24. mine — an explosive

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