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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: deal · spring · hand · bass · wound · object · fine · stock

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. object — a thing
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. fine — high quality
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. bass — low music
  10. hand — in cards
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. object — an aim
  13. deal — to handle
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. stock — shares
  16. spring — of water
  17. stock — goods
  18. bass — the fish
  19. fine — all right
  20. hand — help
  21. spring — the season
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. spring — a coil
  24. deal — an agreement

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