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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. land — a country
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — to come down
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. stock — shares
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — the season
  11. clip — for paper
  12. spring — a coil
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. spring — of water
  18. prune — to trim
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. wind — moving air
  21. prune — to trim
  22. stock — goods
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hide — to keep secret

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