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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: stock · prune · charge · race · drill · bay · band · file

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — goods
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — humankind
  8. charge — in control
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. prune — to trim
  13. file — a line of people
  14. charge — a price
  15. band — a music group
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. stock — shares
  21. band — a ring
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. drill — a practice

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