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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. clip — a video
  3. track — to keep track
  4. clip — for paper
  5. hand — help
  6. track — a path
  7. land — a country
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. march — the month
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. press — to push
  13. stock — shares
  14. press — a publisher
  15. stock — goods
  16. land — ground
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. land — to come down
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. press — newspapers
  22. clip — to cut
  23. hand — in cards
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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