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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: band · cold · stock · bore · land · craft · nail · fall

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. band — a music group
  3. stock — goods
  4. fall — to drop
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. fall — the season
  7. stock — shares
  8. bore — to tire
  9. land — to come down
  10. fall — to drop
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. band — a ring
  13. bore — to drill
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. land — a country
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. craft — a skill
  19. land — ground
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. craft — boats
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. band — a rubber band

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