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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · hand · land · chair · stock · rush · rock · track

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. clip — a video
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. stock — shares
  8. hand — in cards
  9. chair — a leader
  10. rock — music
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. stock — goods
  13. rush — hurry
  14. track — a song
  15. land — a country
  16. track — to keep track
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — ground
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rock — a stone
  24. track — a path

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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