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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: clip · charge · mate · land · scale · bark · stock · deal

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. stock — shares
  4. charge — a price
  5. land — ground
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bark — to shout
  9. charge — in control
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. charge — electricity
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. land — a country
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. land — to come down
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. deal — to handle
  23. clip — a video
  24. stock — goods

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