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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · bat · net · file · wave · bank · stock · straw

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. bank — for money
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bank — of a river
  6. net — after costs
  7. stock — goods
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. file — a document
  11. net — for catching
  12. march — the month
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. net — in sport
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. file — a line of people
  18. march — the month
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bank — for money
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. march — music
  24. stock — shares

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