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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · prune · bank · spell · game · spring · clip · stock

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. spring — the season
  3. clip — a video
  4. game — wild animals
  5. prune — to trim
  6. clip — for paper
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. spring — a coil
  9. track — a path
  10. spell — a short time
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bank — for money
  13. prune — to trim
  14. spring — of water
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. bank — for money
  19. spell — letters
  20. game — a match
  21. spell — magic
  22. track — to keep track
  23. bank — of a river
  24. track — a song

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