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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. field — a subject
  3. clip — for paper
  4. root — of a word
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. stock — shares
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. net — in sport
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. net — after costs
  14. stock — goods
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. clip — to cut
  18. content — happy
  19. root — of a plant
  20. root — the cause
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. clip — a video
  24. row — to paddle

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