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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bank — of a river
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. fall — the season
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bank — for money
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bank — for money
  19. clip — a video
  20. kid — child
  21. stock — goods
  22. fall — to drop
  23. stand — to bear
  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