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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. capital — money
  4. stock — goods
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. mine — for digging
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. capital — a city
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. track — a song
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. track — a path
  23. scale — in music
  24. stock — shares

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