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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. shower — rain
  3. track — to keep track
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. stock — goods
  7. track — a path
  8. mate — a friend
  9. track — a song
  10. clip — to cut
  11. march — music
  12. shower — to wash
  13. saw — the tool
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. mate — to breed
  17. march — the month
  18. mate — a partner
  19. clip — a video
  20. saw — the tool
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bass — low music
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. march — the month

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