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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. craft — a skill
  3. bore — to drill
  4. stock — shares
  5. fall — to drop
  6. charge — electricity
  7. stock — goods
  8. charge — in control
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. charge — a price
  13. clip — to cut
  14. craft — boats
  15. clip — a video
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. fall — the season
  20. clip — for paper
  21. band — a music group
  22. bat — the animal
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bore — to tire

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