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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: scale · band · snap · land · stick · spring · stock · chest

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. chest — of your body
  3. band — a music group
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. land — a country
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. scale — size or range
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — the season
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. spring — a coil
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. stock — shares
  19. chest — of your body
  20. scale — in music
  21. land — to come down
  22. chest — a box
  23. land — ground
  24. snap — to click

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