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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: board · can · pass · capital · band · stem · game · stock

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — a permit
  3. board — to get on
  4. can — to be able to
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. can — a tin
  8. band — a music group
  9. can — a tin
  10. board — a committee
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. stock — shares
  14. band — a ring
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. stem — to come from
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stock — goods
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. game — wild animals

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