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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. kid — child
  4. rash — a series
  5. roll — a cake
  6. kid — to tease
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. roll — a list
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. object — an aim
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. stock — shares
  15. rash — hasty
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cell — a phone
  18. clip — a video
  19. object — to protest
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. object — a thing
  23. stock — goods
  24. cell — in biology

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