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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: rush · hand · snap · mate · cold · lean · stock · band

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. mate — to breed
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. stock — shares
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. band — a music group
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. mate — a partner
  11. lean — to bend
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. band — a ring
  15. rush — hurry
  16. cold — an illness
  17. snap — to click
  18. stock — goods
  19. cold — not warm
  20. hand — help
  21. mate — a friend
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. lean — thin
  24. hand — in cards

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