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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: stock · ground · file · lash · ball · clip · wind · band

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. stock — goods
  3. clip — for paper
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ground — a position
  6. clip — a video
  7. file — a document
  8. ball — a dance
  9. band — a music group
  10. wind — moving air
  11. ground — crushed
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. band — a ring
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. file — a tool
  19. ground — the earth
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. clip — to cut
  23. file — a line of people
  24. lash — to lash out

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