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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. track — a path
  4. track — a song
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. tear — from crying
  7. snap — to click
  8. kid — child
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. ground — the earth
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. tube — the underground
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — goods
  16. ground — crushed
  17. tube — a container
  18. ground — a position
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tear — from crying
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — boats
  24. track — to keep track

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