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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. clip — to cut
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. race — humankind
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. club — a group
  8. rash — hasty
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stock — shares
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. club — for dancing
  14. clip — a video
  15. race — the arms race
  16. club — for golf
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. race — a contest
  19. wound — an injury
  20. saw — the tool
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. clip — for paper
  23. stock — goods
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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