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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 120 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: cold · current · clip · pit · spell · pitcher · lean · stock

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. current — electric
  3. lean — thin
  4. clip — for paper
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. lean — to bend
  12. clip — a video
  13. current — happening now
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — a short time
  17. pit — in a race
  18. spell — magic
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. current — of water
  22. stock — shares
  23. clip — to cut
  24. lean — to rest against

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