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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a song
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. kid — to tease
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. stock — shares
  9. wake — a trail
  10. land — a country
  11. track — a path
  12. land — ground
  13. chest — of your body
  14. land — to come down
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. stock — goods
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. kid — child
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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