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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: bass · hand · jam · game · fine · band · plane · stock

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. hand — in cards
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. fine — all right
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. stock — shares
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. fine — high quality
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. game — a match
  16. bass — the fish
  17. plane — a tool
  18. game — wild animals
  19. band — a ring
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. band — a music group
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. bass — low music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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