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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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. clip — a video
  4. last — finally
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spell — magic
  7. swing — music
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. last — to go on
  10. stock — shares
  11. swing — to play on
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. toast — bread
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. cold — an illness
  16. swing — in golf
  17. clip — to cut
  18. kick — in football
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. last — final
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. cold — not warm
  24. spell — letters

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