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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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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: rule · bear · march · band · stock · fork · cell · net

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cell — a phone
  3. net — for catching
  4. fork — in a road
  5. rule — government
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. cell — in biology
  8. stock — shares
  9. march — the month
  10. band — a ring
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. net — after costs
  18. rule — a law
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. net — in sport
  24. bear — the animal

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