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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cell — in biology
  5. club — a group
  6. swing — to play on
  7. row — a line
  8. swing — music
  9. club — for dancing
  10. cell — a phone
  11. swing — in golf
  12. scale — in music
  13. club — for golf
  14. clip — a video
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. row — to paddle
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. stock — goods
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. stock — shares

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