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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 116 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 · game · prune · row · last · stock · bat · vault

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — shares
  4. prune — to trim
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — a match
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. row — to paddle
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. vault — a safe
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. band — a music group
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. row — a line
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. prune — to trim
  23. last — final
  24. bat — the animal

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