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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: mate · stock · track · wound · clip · pitch · rock · last

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. last — final
  3. mate — a friend
  4. track — a path
  5. track — to keep track
  6. track — a song
  7. clip — a video
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. mate — a partner
  10. last — to go on
  11. rock — music
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stock — shares
  16. pitch — completely
  17. rock — a stone
  18. stock — goods
  19. mate — to breed
  20. clip — to cut
  21. last — finally
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. pitch — a sports field

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