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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: clip · track · hand · kid · plane · jam · current · stock

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — a video
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. current — of water
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. stock — goods
  8. kid — child
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. kid — to tease
  14. hand — in cards
  15. plane — a tool
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. stock — shares
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. clip — for paper
  20. current — electric
  21. track — a path
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. track — to keep track
  24. hand — help

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