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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. cell — in a prison
  2. court — for sport
  3. stock — goods
  4. row — a line
  5. clip — for paper
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. net — for catching
  9. cell — in biology
  10. lie — to recline
  11. stock — shares
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — a series
  14. cell — a phone
  15. court — of a king
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. clip — a video
  19. court — of law
  20. net — after costs
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. clip — to cut
  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