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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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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: wind · bay · band · roll · track · fall · stock · chest

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. band — a ring
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. fall — to drop
  5. roll — a list
  6. fall — to drop
  7. band — a music group
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fall — the season
  11. chest — a box
  12. wind — moving air
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. roll — a cake
  15. track — a path
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. track — a song
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. track — to keep track
  24. chest — of your body

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