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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: bass · land · file · stock · cabinet · pitcher · bowl · wax

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bass — the fish
  5. stock — goods
  6. land — to come down
  7. bass — low music
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. wax — to grow
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. stock — shares
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. land — ground
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. file — a tool
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. file — a document

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