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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 116 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: staff · march · kid · pound · stock · vault · straw · current

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. staff — a stick
  5. staff — employees
  6. current — of water
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. stock — shares
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. staff — employees
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. current — happening now
  17. kid — child
  18. vault — a safe
  19. kid — to tease
  20. march — the month
  21. stock — goods
  22. pound — a weight
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. current — electric

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