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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: file · stock · chair · prune · net · dip · band · tube

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. dip — to sink
  3. file — a tool
  4. net — after costs
  5. chair — a leader
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. band — a music group
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stock — goods
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. tube — a container
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. band — a ring
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. file — a document
  23. stock — shares
  24. file — a line of people

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