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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 120 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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. stock — shares
  3. fine — high quality
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. clip — for paper
  6. current — happening now
  7. clip — a video
  8. fine — all right
  9. stock — goods
  10. prune — to trim
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. file — a line of people
  13. current — of water
  14. kid — child
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. file — a tool
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. clip — to cut
  21. kid — to tease
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. file — a document
  24. stock — a soup base

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