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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — from crying
  6. track — to keep track
  7. land — ground
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stock — shares
  12. track — a path
  13. land — to come down
  14. track — a song
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bore — to tire
  24. land — a country

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