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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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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: pitcher · land · stock · face · track · wind · spell · roll

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stock — shares
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — a country
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spell — magic
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. track — a song
  11. face — part of the head
  12. track — a path
  13. land — ground
  14. wind — moving air
  15. track — to keep track
  16. face — to confront
  17. face — to point toward
  18. stock — goods
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. roll — a list
  21. spell — a short time
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. spell — letters
  24. roll — a cake

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