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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rash — hasty
  4. tear — from crying
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. land — to come down
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. stock — goods
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — a weight
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. tear — to rip
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. spring — of water
  19. land — a country
  20. rash — a series
  21. clip — a video
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. tear — from crying
  24. stock — shares

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