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

Word bank: cap · bat · game · jam · last · track · stock · tube

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cap — of ice
  3. game — wild animals
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. last — to go on
  7. tube — a container
  8. track — a song
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cap — a lid
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. tube — the underground
  16. track — to keep track
  17. stock — shares
  18. last — finally
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. game — a match
  21. bat — the animal
  22. track — a path
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. stock — goods

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