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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
468
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: clip · cold · stock · stick · mouse · spring · wax · scale

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. wax — to grow
  4. scale — size or range
  5. stock — shares
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. scale — in music
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. spring — the season
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. clip — to cut
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. spring — of water
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. spring — a coil
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mouse — for a computer

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