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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.

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: cold · mouse · track · spring · clip · staff · stock · bass

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. track — a song
  3. staff — a stick
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. track — a path
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bass — low music
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. clip — for paper
  11. staff — employees
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. spring — the season
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. staff — employees
  21. clip — a video
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. bass — the fish
  24. stock — shares

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