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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 120 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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. spring — a coil
  4. stock — goods
  5. perch — the fish
  6. spring — of water
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. tube — a container
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. spring — the season
  15. clip — to cut
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. clip — a video
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — the underground
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wind — moving air

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