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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 116 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: bat · row · perch · stock · clip · key · tube · fall

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. fall — to drop
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. perch — the fish
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. row — to paddle
  8. tube — the underground
  9. key — for a lock
  10. fall — the season
  11. tube — a container
  12. bat — the animal
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. fall — to drop
  18. clip — to cut
  19. row — a line
  20. stock — shares
  21. key — the most important part
  22. key — in music
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. perch — for a bird

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