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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: mouse · rush · stock · coach · chest · wind · bear · clip

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. bear — the animal
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — shares
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. chest — of your body
  11. clip — a video
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bear — the animal
  24. chest — a box

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