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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · clip · stock · wound · trunk · club · row · mate

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. row — a line
  5. march — music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. mate — a friend
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. clip — for paper
  13. club — a group
  14. mate — a partner
  15. stock — goods
  16. clip — a video
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mate — to breed
  19. march — the month
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. row — to paddle
  22. march — the month
  23. club — for golf
  24. club — for dancing

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