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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: hand · bear · rock · clip · bound · lash · stock · cold

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bound — obliged
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. hand — help
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bear — the animal
  15. hand — in cards
  16. rock — a stone
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. cold — an illness
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bound — certain
  24. cold — the Cold War

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