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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: saw · fall · band · rule · sharp · stock · hand · game

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. hand — help
  3. rule — a law
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. game — a match
  6. band — a music group
  7. stock — shares
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. saw — the tool
  10. fall — to drop
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rule — government
  16. game — wild animals
  17. sharp — clever
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. fall — the season
  20. saw — the tool
  21. fall — to drop
  22. band — a ring
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. rule — to rule out

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