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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: row · clip · stock · hide · deal · wound · mine · roll

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. deal — to handle
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. roll — a cake
  16. row — a line
  17. wound — an injury
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a list
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. row — a quarrel

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