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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · stock · vault · saw · track · face · clip · content

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stock — goods
  3. track — a path
  4. content — happy
  5. saw — the tool
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. track — a song
  8. vault — a safe
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — a video
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — part of the head
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stock — shares
  17. face — to confront
  18. content — the amount
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. chair — a leader
  23. track — to keep track
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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