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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 120 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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. ball — a great time
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. clip — a video
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — goods
  8. bound — certain
  9. clip — to cut
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. bound — obliged
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — child
  17. clip — for paper
  18. stem — to come from
  19. kid — to tease
  20. file — a line of people
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. ball — a dance
  23. bound — tied together
  24. ball — a round shape

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