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

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. clip — for paper
  3. spell — magic
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — letters
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. stock — shares
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. clip — a video
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. vault — a safe

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