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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 120 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: spring · sharp · band · stock · scale · track · coach · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. band — a music group
  7. track — a path
  8. spring — a coil
  9. scale — in music
  10. spring — of water
  11. clip — a video
  12. stock — goods
  13. track — a song
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. track — to keep track
  17. sharp — clever
  18. spring — the season
  19. stock — shares
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. clip — to cut
  23. band — a ring
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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