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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: drill · clip · bound · stock · racket · mark · shower · coach

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. shower — to wash
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. stock — goods
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bound — certain
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bound — tied together
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. stock — shares
  13. bound — obliged
  14. shower — rain
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. drill — army training
  18. mark — a grade
  19. drill — a practice
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. mark — a trace

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