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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tear — to rip
  5. clip — a video
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stock — shares
  9. net — after costs
  10. degree — an amount
  11. clip — to cut
  12. lean — thin
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stock — goods
  16. chest — of your body
  17. can — a tin
  18. net — in sport
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — to bend
  21. can — a tin
  22. tear — from crying
  23. net — for catching
  24. can — to be able to

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