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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. clip — for paper
  4. stock — goods
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. staff — a stick
  7. saw — the tool
  8. staff — employees
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. staff — employees
  11. cell — a phone
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. stock — shares
  14. rash — hasty
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. pound — a weight
  20. band — a ring
  21. saw — the tool
  22. band — a music group
  23. rash — a series
  24. cell — in biology

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