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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
468
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: pop · stock · wound · key · file · land · racket · mine

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. land — to come down
  4. key — the most important part
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. file — a line of people
  7. land — a country
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — music
  11. land — ground
  12. stock — shares
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. key — in music
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. file — a document
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. stock — goods
  22. pop — soda
  23. file — a tool
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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