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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. capital — money
  3. chest — a box
  4. object — an aim
  5. object — to protest
  6. pop — music
  7. capital — a city
  8. kid — to tease
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pop — to visit
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stock — shares
  15. stand — to bear
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. clip — a video
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. stock — goods
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pop — soda
  23. object — a thing
  24. kid — child

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