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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: stock · band · current · row · board · lie · net · degree

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. row — a line
  4. net — after costs
  5. row — to paddle
  6. band — a ring
  7. current — electric
  8. band — a music group
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. degree — an amount
  11. board — to get on
  12. stock — shares
  13. current — happening now
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. net — in sport
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. board — a committee
  18. net — for catching
  19. current — of water
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. stock — goods
  24. lie — to recline

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