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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. stock — goods
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. game — a match
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a city
  8. face — part of the head
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. game — wild animals
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — shares
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. clip — a video
  22. face — to point toward
  23. face — to confront
  24. field — a subject

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