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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: pit · net · march · clip · track · stock · wind · last

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a path
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. clip — for paper
  5. march — the month
  6. stock — goods
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — for catching
  9. clip — a video
  10. last — finally
  11. net — in sport
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pit — in a race
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pit — a hole
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. last — final
  21. stock — shares
  22. track — a song
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. last — to go on

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