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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: straw · charge · race · net · stock · kid · row · prune

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. charge — electricity
  3. race — the arms race
  4. row — a line
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. stock — goods
  7. charge — in control
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. net — after costs
  10. stock — shares
  11. kid — to tease
  12. net — in sport
  13. row — to paddle
  14. prune — to trim
  15. race — a contest
  16. prune — to trim
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. race — humankind
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. net — for catching
  24. kid — child

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