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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: track · hand · band · bear · shower · content · leaves · stock

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. bear — the animal
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. track — a song
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. stock — goods
  14. shower — rain
  15. content — the amount
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. track — a path
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. hand — in cards
  24. track — to keep track

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