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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. land — ground
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. game — wild animals
  5. clip — to cut
  6. stock — goods
  7. clip — a video
  8. bass — low music
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — tied together
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. track — a path
  16. stock — shares
  17. land — to come down
  18. game — a match
  19. bound — certain
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. track — a song
  24. land — a country

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