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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 116 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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. rash — hasty
  3. land — a country
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. swing — to play on
  6. stock — shares
  7. land — to come down
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. land — ground
  10. rest — what's left
  11. track — a path
  12. content — happy
  13. stock — goods
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. content — the amount
  16. swing — music
  17. rash — a series
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rest — a break
  21. swing — in golf
  22. wound — an injury
  23. track — to keep track
  24. wound — an injury

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