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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: cold · stock · bass · bank · bound · fork · rash · band

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bound — certain
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bank — for money
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. bass — low music
  7. bank — for money
  8. fork — in a road
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stock — shares
  12. bank — of a river
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bass — the fish
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. band — a ring
  21. rash — a series
  22. band — a music group
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — a soup base

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