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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. prune — to trim
  4. object — an aim
  5. object — to protest
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. field — farmland
  8. clip — for paper
  9. prune — to trim
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — goods
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. clip — a video
  22. object — a thing
  23. clip — to cut
  24. nail — for a hammer

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