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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. scale — in music
  4. clip — for paper
  5. stock — shares
  6. spring — of water
  7. scale — size or range
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. spring — the season
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. prune — to trim
  15. clip — a video
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. squash — to crush
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. spring — a coil
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. squash — the sport
  24. stock — goods

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