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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. stock — shares
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. scale — in music
  7. prune — to trim
  8. board — a committee
  9. scale — size or range
  10. kid — child
  11. firm — steady
  12. stock — goods
  13. kid — to tease
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. board — to get on
  16. firm — a company
  17. prune — to trim
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. clip — to cut
  21. season — of the year
  22. clip — for paper
  23. season — in sport
  24. clip — a video

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