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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: chair · stock · mate · squash · net · march · stand · band

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — goods
  3. march — music
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. mate — a friend
  6. squash — the sport
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. chair — a leader
  9. march — the month
  10. net — in sport
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. mate — to breed
  14. squash — to crush
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. band — a music group
  17. mate — a partner
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — for catching
  21. band — a ring
  22. stand — to bear
  23. march — the month
  24. stand — on your feet

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