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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 120 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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. can — to be able to
  4. saw — the tool
  5. clip — a video
  6. stock — shares
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. last — finally
  9. can — a tin
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. band — a music group
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. last — final
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. clip — to cut
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. stock — goods
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. last — to go on
  22. mine — for digging
  23. clip — for paper
  24. saw — the 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