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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. clip — for paper
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. fall — to drop
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. stock — goods
  9. clip — a video
  10. scale — size or range
  11. clip — to cut
  12. net — for catching
  13. fall — the season
  14. content — the amount
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. net — after costs
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. stock — shares
  21. fall — to drop
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. scale — in music
  24. net — in sport

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