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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. row — a line
  3. row — to paddle
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. clip — a video
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. sharp — clever
  8. hand — in cards
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. stock — shares
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. shower — to wash
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. clip — for paper
  18. shower — rain
  19. hand — help
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. clip — to cut

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