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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: field · object · march · stock · lash · clip · straw · mine

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. stock — shares
  2. march — the month
  3. field — farmland
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. field — for sport
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. object — a thing
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. clip — a video
  15. mine — for digging
  16. stock — goods
  17. object — an aim
  18. object — to protest
  19. field — a subject
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. clip — to cut
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. clip — for paper
  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