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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: leaves · stock · band · trunk · ground · track · cold · craft

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. craft — a skill
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. band — a music group
  9. track — a path
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. cold — an illness
  12. craft — boats
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — not warm
  15. track — to keep track
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. band — a ring
  18. ground — a position
  19. stock — goods
  20. track — a song
  21. ground — the earth
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. ground — crushed
  24. stock — shares

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