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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: mine · stock · band · roll · safe · file · hand · row

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. row — to paddle
  3. hand — help
  4. band — a music group
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. roll — a cake
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. row — a line
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. roll — a list
  13. file — a tool
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. file — a document
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. stock — goods
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. file — a line of people
  23. stock — shares
  24. band — a ring

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