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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. land — a country
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. ball — a great time
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. clip — to cut
  10. ball — a dance
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. land — to come down
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — goods
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. land — ground
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. pound — a weight

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