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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. clip — a video
  5. race — a contest
  6. rock — music
  7. race — the arms race
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stock — shares
  10. dip — to sink
  11. chest — a box
  12. race — humankind
  13. rock — a stone
  14. stock — goods
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chest — of your body
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. cabinet — ministers

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