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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — to cut
  4. stock — goods
  5. kid — to tease
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. stock — shares
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. clip — a video
  10. net — in sport
  11. suit — to fit
  12. rock — a stone
  13. net — after costs
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. suit — clothes
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. suit — in cards
  20. sharp — clever
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rock — music
  23. net — for catching
  24. straw — a straw man

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