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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: land · chest · band · drill · nail · present · stock · bat

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. stock — shares
  3. land — to come down
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — the tool
  7. stock — goods
  8. bat — the animal
  9. present — a gift
  10. band — a ring
  11. chest — of your body
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. present — the time now
  14. chest — of your body
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. drill — army training
  17. present — there
  18. chest — a box
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. band — a music group
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. bat — for baseball

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