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

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. roll — a list
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. land — to come down
  6. clip — a video
  7. track — a path
  8. roll — a cake
  9. mark — a trace
  10. stock — goods
  11. track — a song
  12. land — ground
  13. date — the fruit
  14. track — to keep track
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. land — a country
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. mark — a grade
  21. stock — shares
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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