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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: wound · field · rush · band · object · stock · bat · pass

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. object — to protest
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. band — a ring
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wound — an injury
  15. object — an aim
  16. object — a thing
  17. rush — hurry
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. pass — a permit
  21. field — a subject
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. band — a music group
  24. wound — an injury

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