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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — goods
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. march — the month
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. march — music
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cell — in biology
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rule — a law
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. squash — the sport
  17. rule — government
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. kid — child

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