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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pit — a hole
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. pit — in a race
  9. march — the month
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. race — a contest
  14. rule — government
  15. tear — from crying
  16. rule — a law
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. clip — for paper
  19. race — humankind
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — a video
  22. race — the arms race
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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