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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. face — to point toward
  4. stock — goods
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. clip — a video
  7. last — finally
  8. last — final
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. face — part of the head
  12. clip — to cut
  13. track — a path
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. stock — shares
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. last — to go on
  21. pound — a weight
  22. face — to confront
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. track — a song

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