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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: deal · stock · fork · field · clip · wound · straw · swing

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. swing — to play on
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — a video
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. clip — to cut
  8. deal — to handle
  9. clip — for paper
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. field — a subject
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. stock — goods
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. field — for sport
  18. fork — in a road
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — shares
  21. swing — in golf
  22. field — farmland
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. swing — music

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