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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: scale · staff · capital · stock · tear · clip

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. scale — in music
  3. tear — from crying
  4. scale — size or range
  5. capital — a city
  6. staff — employees
  7. stock — shares
  8. staff — employees
  9. clip — to cut
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. tear — to rip
  12. staff — a stick
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. stock — goods
  15. clip — a video
  16. capital — money
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. clip — for paper

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