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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. tear — to rip
  9. clip — a video
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. scale — size or range
  13. fine — all right
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. fine — high quality
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. stock — shares
  20. row — a line
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. row — to paddle
  24. scale — for weighing

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