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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: game · stock · cold · track · mark · plane · bass · bulb

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. mark — a trace
  7. plane — a tool
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — low music
  10. track — a path
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a song
  13. stock — goods
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bulb — for light
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bass — the fish
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mark — a grade
  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