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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. spring — of water
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. clip — for paper
  6. stock — shares
  7. court — for sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. court — of a king
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. scale — size or range
  13. spring — a coil
  14. scale — in music
  15. spring — the season
  16. stock — goods
  17. mug — to rob
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. mug — a cup
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. mug — a face
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. court — of law

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