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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: wound · can · stock · clip · vault · kick · mate · cold

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. clip — to cut
  3. can — a tin
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mate — a friend
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. can — to be able to
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mate — a partner
  15. vault — a safe
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kick — in football
  18. stock — goods
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. clip — a video
  21. can — a tin
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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