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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. charge — a price
  3. stock — shares
  4. clip — for paper
  5. tear — from crying
  6. charge — electricity
  7. clip — to cut
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. stock — goods
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — temperature
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. degree — from a university
  16. tear — from crying
  17. clip — a video
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. bank — for money
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. tear — to rip
  24. charge — in control

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