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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: stock · fall · pass · foot · band · kid · file · content

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. fall — to drop
  3. file — a document
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. file — a line of people
  6. content — happy
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. band — a music group
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. kid — child
  11. stock — goods
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. fall — the season
  14. content — the amount
  15. foot — a measure
  16. pass — a permit
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. band — a ring
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. file — a tool
  22. kid — to tease
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pass — to spend time

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