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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 · kick · net · land · bore · march · plane · stock

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. net — after costs
  3. band — a music group
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. land — ground
  6. bore — to tire
  7. stock — shares
  8. march — the month
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. land — a country
  11. march — music
  12. net — for catching
  13. stock — goods
  14. bore — to drill
  15. kick — in football
  16. march — the month
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — a tool
  20. net — in sport
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. land — to come down
  24. kick — a thrill

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