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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cell — a phone
  3. wind — moving air
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. fall — the season
  7. clip — a video
  8. track — a song
  9. stock — shares
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. fall — to drop
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stock — goods
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cell — in biology
  20. clip — for paper
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. track — a path
  24. racket — for tennis

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