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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: land · cell · stock · trunk · band · mug · sharp · content

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. band — a music group
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. band — a ring
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. land — a country
  9. content — the amount
  10. stock — goods
  11. mug — a cup
  12. stock — shares
  13. cell — in biology
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. content — happy
  16. mug — a face
  17. land — to come down
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. mug — to rob
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — clever
  22. land — ground
  23. cell — a phone
  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