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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: chest · prune · wind · mate · stock · band · coach · wave

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. wind — moving air
  3. mate — a partner
  4. prune — to trim
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. mate — a friend
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. chest — of your body
  9. band — a music group
  10. chest — a box
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. band — a ring
  14. stock — goods
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. stock — shares
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chest — of your body
  19. mate — to breed
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. wind — moving air
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. wind — to turn a key

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