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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: game · spell · track · pit · hand · stock · roll · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. pit — a hole
  5. land — to come down
  6. track — to keep track
  7. stock — goods
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. track — a path
  11. roll — a cake
  12. roll — a list
  13. game — a match
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pit — in a race
  18. game — wild animals
  19. stock — shares
  20. track — a song
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. land — a country
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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