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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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. field — a subject
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chest — a box
  8. field — for sport
  9. perch — the fish
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stock — shares
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. field — farmland
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. kick — in football
  17. dip — to sink
  18. mark — a grade
  19. stock — goods
  20. chest — of your body
  21. clip — a video
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. chest — of your body
  24. kick — with a leg

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