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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: mate · clip · bay · tear · sharp · tube · chair · stock

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. stock — goods
  4. mate — to breed
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. mate — a friend
  8. tear — to rip
  9. clip — for paper
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. clip — a video
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. clip — to cut
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. stock — shares
  22. mate — a partner
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. tube — a container

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