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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. squash — to crush
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. current — electric
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. tube — the underground
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. squash — the sport
  10. clip — to cut
  11. tube — a container
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. current — of water
  16. clip — for paper
  17. current — happening now
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — a video
  20. stock — goods
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. stock — shares
  24. wind — moving air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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