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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 · plane · stock · cold · track · firm · band · nail

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. cold — an illness
  3. band — a music group
  4. firm — a company
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. track — a path
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. band — a ring
  12. cold — not warm
  13. firm — steady
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. track — to keep track
  16. firm — decided
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stock — goods
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. plane — a tool
  22. track — a song
  23. chair — a leader
  24. nail — on a finger

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