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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 120 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 · safe · pound · chest · spring · clip · net · cell

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. spring — the season
  3. clip — a video
  4. cell — a phone
  5. chest — a box
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. net — in sport
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. chest — of your body
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. spring — a coil
  12. net — for catching
  13. stock — goods
  14. chest — of your body
  15. clip — to cut
  16. spring — of water
  17. clip — for paper
  18. stock — shares
  19. cell — in biology
  20. net — after costs
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. pound — a weight

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