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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: ruler · ball · game · band · stock · present · clip · rush

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. clip — for paper
  3. ball — a dance
  4. band — a music group
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. stock — goods
  11. band — a ring
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. stock — shares
  15. present — a gift
  16. clip — a video
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ball — a great time
  19. game — wild animals
  20. present — the time now
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. game — a match
  24. clip — to cut

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