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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: cold · temple · stock · land · snap · board · band · club

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. club — for dancing
  3. board — a committee
  4. land — a country
  5. club — for golf
  6. land — ground
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. stock — goods
  11. club — a group
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cold — not warm
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a ring
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. snap — to click
  20. land — to come down
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stock — shares
  24. board — to get on

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