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

Word bank: bay · mark · stock · clip · press · fine · fork · wind

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. stock — goods
  4. mark — a grade
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. fine — all right
  7. wind — moving air
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mark — a trace
  11. press — to push
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. press — a publisher
  15. stock — shares
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fine — high quality
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. fork — in a road
  24. press — newspapers

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