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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 · trunk · rash · band · ball · fall · wind · net

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. net — in sport
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. net — for catching
  8. stock — shares
  9. wind — moving air
  10. ball — a dance
  11. fall — to drop
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. rash — a series
  15. ball — a great time
  16. fall — the season
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. stock — goods
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. net — after costs

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