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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 116 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. net — after costs
  3. suit — to fit
  4. suit — in cards
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. content — the amount
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. stock — goods
  12. net — in sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. suit — clothes
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. net — for catching
  19. clip — a video
  20. cold — not warm
  21. content — happy
  22. stock — shares
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. stock — a soup base

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