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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: cold · ball · rule · stock · board · fall · tube · bass

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. rule — government
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — a container
  5. bass — low music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. board — a committee
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tube — the underground
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rule — a law
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fall — the season
  18. ball — a great time
  19. bass — the fish
  20. fall — to drop
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. ball — a dance
  24. board — to get on

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