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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: stock · pound · trunk · sharp · kid · saw · wound · track

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. track — a path
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — to tease
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. stock — shares
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. track — a song
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. sharp — clever
  13. pound — a weight
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. track — to keep track
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. saw — the tool
  23. stock — goods
  24. pound — for dogs

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