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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. craft — boats
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. stock — shares
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bound — obliged
  7. spell — magic
  8. craft — a skill
  9. scale — in music
  10. spell — a short time
  11. bound — tied together
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bound — certain
  14. clip — for paper
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. clip — a video
  17. stock — goods
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. spell — letters
  20. rock — a stone
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. rock — music
  24. scale — size or range

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