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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. deal — to handle
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. land — to come down
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. prune — to trim
  7. clip — to cut
  8. land — a country
  9. stock — shares
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. mine — for digging
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. bat — the animal
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. clip — for paper
  18. stock — goods
  19. clip — a video
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. land — ground
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pound — a weight
  24. prune — to trim

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