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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. clip — to cut
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. kid — to tease
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. kid — child
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. firm — steady
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. stock — shares
  15. perch — the fish
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. clip — a video
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. firm — a company
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — for paper
  23. firm — decided
  24. pitch — completely

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