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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 116 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: staff · band · wind · craft · cabinet · cold · stock · cue

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. craft — boats
  3. stock — goods
  4. band — a ring
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. craft — a skill
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. stock — shares
  10. cue — for pool
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cue — a signal
  19. cue — a hint
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. band — a music group
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. band — a rubber band

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