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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. tear — from crying
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. swing — in golf
  5. swing — to play on
  6. bear — the animal
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. tear — to rip
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. file — a tool
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. clip — to cut
  16. file — a document
  17. bear — the animal
  18. file — a line of people
  19. stock — shares
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. perch — the fish
  23. swing — music
  24. tear — from crying

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