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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: wind · bowl · race · stock · file · perch · band · track

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. perch — the fish
  6. race — humankind
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. stock — goods
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wind — moving air
  11. race — a contest
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. file — a tool
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — shares
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. race — the arms race
  18. track — a path
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. track — to keep track
  22. band — a ring
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. wind — moving air

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