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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: racket · stock · deal · clip · tube · land · fall · staff

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. staff — employees
  3. land — ground
  4. deal — to handle
  5. clip — to cut
  6. staff — a stick
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. clip — a video
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fall — the season
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — goods
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. staff — employees
  20. land — a country
  21. fall — to drop
  22. stock — shares
  23. land — to come down
  24. fall — to drop

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