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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: tear · file · clip · stock · straw · safe · ground · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. capital — a city
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. tear — from crying
  8. clip — a video
  9. ground — the earth
  10. file — a document
  11. clip — to cut
  12. ground — a position
  13. stock — shares
  14. stock — goods
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. clip — for paper
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. file — a tool
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. ground — crushed
  24. file — a line of people

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