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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. suit — to fit
  3. suit — in cards
  4. stock — goods
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. clip — to cut
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. present — the time now
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — rain
  14. stock — shares
  15. march — the month
  16. pitch — completely
  17. clip — for paper
  18. suit — clothes
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. present — there
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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