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

Word bank: hand · wind · stem · game · stock · board · band · pass

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. band — a ring
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. board — to get on
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. game — wild animals
  10. hand — in cards
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. pass — a permit
  13. game — a match
  14. stem — to come from
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. stock — shares
  17. wind — moving air
  18. hand — help
  19. board — a committee
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. band — a music group

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