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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 · march · row · track · stock · toast · hand · racket

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. hand — help
  3. track — a song
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. march — the month
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. clip — a video
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. track — a path
  13. track — to keep track
  14. march — music
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stock — goods
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. clip — to cut
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. toast — bread
  21. stock — shares
  22. hand — in cards
  23. march — the month
  24. toast — the most admired

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