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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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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: stock · cap · shower · band · chip · mine · hand · board

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. cap — a lid
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. board — to get on
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mine — for digging
  10. band — a music group
  11. stock — shares
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. hand — in cards
  14. band — a ring
  15. stock — goods
  16. board — a committee
  17. chip — for betting
  18. hand — help
  19. cap — of ice
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — to wash
  23. cap — a hat
  24. chip — to eat

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