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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: stock · band · shower · lean · race · bound · pound · cold

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — goods
  3. pound — a weight
  4. shower — rain
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — tied together
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. band — a music group
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. cold — not warm
  15. lean — thin
  16. band — a ring
  17. lean — to bend
  18. race — a contest
  19. shower — to wash
  20. race — humankind
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. bound — certain
  23. stock — shares
  24. race — the arms race

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