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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: land · rule · clip · face · pitcher · stock · kid · hide

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. stock — shares
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. land — a country
  7. face — to point toward
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. land — ground
  10. clip — a video
  11. face — part of the head
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. face — to confront
  14. kid — child
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stock — goods
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. land — to come down
  19. rule — a law
  20. kid — to tease
  21. clip — to cut
  22. rule — government
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stock — a soup base

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