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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · plane · clip · march · bulb · field · band · stock

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bulb — for light
  3. march — music
  4. stock — goods
  5. bulb — for light
  6. field — for sport
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. stock — shares
  9. clip — a video
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. clip — to cut
  14. field — farmland
  15. plane — a tool
  16. clip — for paper
  17. shower — rain
  18. march — the month
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. field — a subject
  23. shower — to wash
  24. march — the month

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