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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. file — a document
  4. stock — shares
  5. ball — a great time
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pop — soda
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. file — a line of people
  11. stock — goods
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. track — a path
  14. ball — a dance
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — magic
  17. file — a tool
  18. track — to keep track
  19. hand — in cards
  20. track — a song
  21. pop — to visit
  22. clip — a video
  23. pop — music
  24. hand — help

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