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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. clip — a video
  5. stock — goods
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. scale — in music
  8. saw — the tool
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. swing — to play on
  11. stock — shares
  12. swing — music
  13. swing — in golf
  14. scale — size or range
  15. stem — to come from
  16. content — happy
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. season — in sport
  19. content — the amount
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. saw — the tool
  22. season — of the year
  23. clip — to cut
  24. stem — a stem cell

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