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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. sharp — clever
  3. pitch — completely
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. clip — a video
  8. date — the fruit
  9. spell — magic
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. spell — a short time
  14. mark — a grade
  15. mark — a trace
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. spell — letters
  18. rash — hasty
  19. stock — goods
  20. rash — a series
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. sharp — exactly

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