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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 120 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: pitch · bark · stock · tube · straw · band · march · land

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. pitch — completely
  3. tube — the underground
  4. bark — to shout
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. band — a music group
  8. land — a country
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. march — music
  12. stock — shares
  13. tube — a container
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. band — a ring
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. stock — goods
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. land — ground
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. land — to come down

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