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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 124 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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. saw — the tool
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. swing — to play on
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. mine — for digging
  12. clip — a video
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. land — a country
  15. branch — a division
  16. clip — to cut
  17. swing — in golf
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. swing — music
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. clip — for paper
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. stock — goods

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