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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. clip — to cut
  3. root — the cause
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — a phone
  6. row — a line
  7. stock — goods
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. court — for sport
  12. root — of a plant
  13. court — of law
  14. row — to paddle
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. root — of a word
  17. stock — shares
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. mark — a grade
  22. court — of a king
  23. clip — a video
  24. mark — a trace

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