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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: land · lash · stock · straw · fall · bat · track · bass

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. land — to come down
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. land — a country
  6. bat — the animal
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. track — to keep track
  10. fall — to drop
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. stock — shares
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fall — the season
  15. bass — low music
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bass — the fish
  19. track — a path
  20. land — ground
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. stock — goods
  24. track — a song

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