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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. land — ground
  3. stock — goods
  4. land — to come down
  5. face — part of the head
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. clip — a video
  8. face — to point toward
  9. pit — a hole
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. face — to confront
  14. pit — in a race
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — to come from
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — shares
  23. clip — to cut
  24. land — a country

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