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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: tear · hand · squash · hide · track · net · content · stock

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — to keep track
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — to crush
  7. hand — help
  8. content — the amount
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. stock — shares
  11. tear — from crying
  12. net — after costs
  13. stock — goods
  14. track — a song
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. net — for catching
  18. tear — to rip
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. content — happy
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. hand — in cards
  24. net — in sport

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