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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 116 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. field — a subject
  4. stock — shares
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. rush — hurry
  9. file — a tool
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wax — to grow
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. clip — a video
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. file — a document
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. field — farmland
  21. file — a line of people
  22. field — for sport
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. clip — for paper

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