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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 120 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: plane · tear · chest · stock · bound · band · cell · club

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. stock — shares
  4. tear — from crying
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. club — a group
  8. bound — certain
  9. stock — goods
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. club — for golf
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bound — tied together
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bound — obliged
  18. band — a music group
  19. chest — a box
  20. tear — to rip
  21. plane — a tool
  22. band — a ring
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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