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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 116 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: track · pop · prune · pitcher · racket · cold · stock · content

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cold — an illness
  6. prune — to trim
  7. stock — goods
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pop — soda
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a song
  13. pop — to visit
  14. content — happy
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. prune — to trim
  17. stock — shares
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. content — the amount
  22. pop — music
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. racket — a loud noise

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