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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. firm — steady
  3. root — of a word
  4. staff — a stick
  5. clip — a video
  6. degree — from a university
  7. firm — a company
  8. clip — for paper
  9. track — a song
  10. staff — employees
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — an amount
  13. stock — goods
  14. track — a path
  15. track — to keep track
  16. root — of a plant
  17. staff — employees
  18. degree — temperature
  19. root — the cause
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. firm — decided
  22. saw — the tool
  23. stock — shares
  24. stock — a soup base

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