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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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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 · kid · cap · fall · clip · staff · patient · bay

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. staff — a stick
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. stock — goods
  11. kid — child
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a hat
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cap — a lid
  18. fall — to drop
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. fall — to drop
  21. clip — a video
  22. fall — the season
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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