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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: stick · wound · spell · bass · hand · stock · land · hide

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. land — to come down
  3. bass — the fish
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. land — a country
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bass — low music
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — goods
  14. spell — letters
  15. hand — in cards
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. spell — magic
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. land — ground
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hand — help

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