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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: press · band · track · field · degree · bulb · stock · mine

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. stock — goods
  3. bulb — for light
  4. track — a path
  5. bulb — for light
  6. press — to push
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. press — newspapers
  10. press — a publisher
  11. band — a music group
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — an amount
  14. band — a ring
  15. degree — from a university
  16. field — a subject
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. field — for sport
  19. track — a song
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. field — farmland
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. mine — belonging to me
  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