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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: chest · stock · game · wake · drill · bear · clip · mine

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. chest — a box
  3. clip — a video
  4. wake — a trail
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. stock — shares
  9. clip — to cut
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. drill — army training
  12. chest — of your body
  13. clip — for paper
  14. drill — a practice
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. drill — the tool
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. stock — goods
  20. game — wild animals
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bear — the animal
  23. game — a match
  24. bear — to put up with

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