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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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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: stock · charge · clip · kid · rock · perch · hand · wind

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  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. perch — the fish
  2. hand — help
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. charge — a price
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stock — goods
  15. rock — music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. kid — child
  18. stock — shares
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kid — to tease
  21. charge — in control
  22. rock — a stone
  23. charge — electricity
  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