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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 120 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: key · row · march · stock · band · stick · sharp · kid

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. row — a line
  6. band — a ring
  7. kid — to tease
  8. stock — goods
  9. key — for a lock
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. march — the month
  15. kid — child
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — shares
  18. band — a music group
  19. key — in music
  20. march — music
  21. row — to paddle
  22. march — the month
  23. key — the most important part
  24. sharp — with an edge

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