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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: stock · band · club · plane · face · chest · game · fan

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. club — for golf
  4. chest — of your body
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — shares
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. game — a match
  10. plane — a tool
  11. face — to confront
  12. band — a music group
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. face — to point toward
  19. club — a group
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. face — part of the head
  24. club — for dancing

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