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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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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: bay · clip · stock · kid · mate · wound · racket · rest

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rest — what's left
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. wound — an injury
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — a partner
  9. kid — child
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wound — an injury
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. mate — to breed
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. rest — a break
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. kid — to tease
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. rest — what's left
  22. clip — a video
  23. stock — goods
  24. bay — a horse colour

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