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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. ground — a position
  3. rock — a stone
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — shares
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. current — of water
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wind — moving air
  11. hand — in cards
  12. current — happening now
  13. rock — music
  14. hand — help
  15. wind — moving air
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. ground — crushed
  19. clip — a video
  20. ground — the earth
  21. clip — to cut
  22. current — electric
  23. land — to come down
  24. clip — for paper

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