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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 120 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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. squash — to crush
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. mark — a trace
  13. band — a ring
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. stock — shares
  18. squash — the sport
  19. band — a music group
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. sharp — clever
  22. clip — to cut
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. mark — a grade

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