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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 · stock · club · pitcher · dip · wind · kid · track

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  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. club — for dancing
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. stock — goods
  8. kid — to tease
  9. clip — to cut
  10. club — a group
  11. track — to keep track
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — child
  14. stock — shares
  15. clip — a video
  16. club — for golf
  17. wind — moving air
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. dip — to sink
  22. track — a path
  23. wind — moving air
  24. track — a song

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