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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. present — there
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. present — the time now
  7. race — the arms race
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rest — a break
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. race — a contest
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. race — humankind
  14. game — a match
  15. clip — to cut
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. clip — for paper
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. present — a gift
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. clip — a video
  23. branch — a division
  24. stock — shares

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