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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. bass — the fish
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. degree — an amount
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. bass — low music
  8. stock — goods
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. tear — to rip
  16. clip — to cut
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. clip — for paper
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. degree — from a university
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. clip — a video
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. tear — from crying

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