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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: band · chair · date · bulb · stock · content · rule · spell

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. spell — magic
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. stock — shares
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. chair — a leader
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. spell — a short time
  14. content — happy
  15. spell — letters
  16. bulb — for light
  17. band — a ring
  18. rule — a law
  19. date — the fruit
  20. bulb — for light
  21. content — the amount
  22. stock — goods
  23. rule — government
  24. band — a music group

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