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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mine — for digging
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. stock — shares
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. tear — from crying
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. nail — for a hammer

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