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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. kid — child
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. object — an aim
  9. object — a thing
  10. stock — goods
  11. game — wild animals
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. clip — for paper
  15. kid — to tease
  16. stock — shares
  17. object — to protest
  18. game — a match

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