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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. field — a subject
  3. toast — bread
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. capital — a city
  7. stock — shares
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. field — for sport
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. dip — to sink
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. stock — goods
  17. capital — money
  18. clip — to cut
  19. field — farmland
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. clip — a video
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. dip — to dunk

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