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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: band · board · stock · file · land · hand · wound · ball

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. band — a ring
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a dance
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. band — a music group
  7. land — to come down
  8. file — a document
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. board — to get on
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. land — a country
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — shares
  17. wound — an injury
  18. hand — help
  19. board — a committee
  20. stock — goods
  21. ball — a great time
  22. hand — in cards
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. file — a tool

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