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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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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. clip — a video
  3. stock — shares
  4. rest — what's left
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. clip — to cut
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wind — moving air
  11. board — a committee
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. rush — hurry
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. clip — for paper
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. board — to get on
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rest — a break
  23. saw — the tool
  24. board — a flat piece

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