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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: file · clip · charge · spring · straw · calf · stock · pitch

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. file — a document
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. file — a tool
  9. charge — a price
  10. spring — of water
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. clip — for paper
  13. stock — shares
  14. charge — electricity
  15. charge — in control
  16. clip — to cut
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. file — a line of people
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. pitch — completely

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