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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. spring — of water
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. ground — a position
  5. spell — magic
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — crushed
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. season — in sport
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. spring — the season
  14. spell — a short time
  15. stock — goods
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spell — letters
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — of the year
  23. file — a line of people
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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