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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. mate — a friend
  5. squash — to crush
  6. mate — a partner
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. clip — for paper
  12. squash — the sport
  13. bat — the animal
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. mate — to breed
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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