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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. wound — an injury
  3. staff — employees
  4. march — the month
  5. file — a line of people
  6. march — music
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. rash — hasty
  9. clip — for paper
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. stock — shares
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rash — a series
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. file — a document
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bore — to drill
  22. march — the month
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. file — a tool

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