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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. file — a document
  3. row — a line
  4. file — a line of people
  5. row — to paddle
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. clip — for paper
  11. scale — size or range
  12. prune — to trim
  13. file — a tool
  14. scale — in music
  15. clip — a video
  16. stock — goods
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. hand — help
  22. clip — to cut
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — in cards

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