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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 116 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. mug — a cup
  4. clip — for paper
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mug — a face
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. ground — a position
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stock — shares
  15. mug — to rob
  16. stock — goods
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kid — to tease
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. ground — crushed
  21. sharp — clever
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ground — the earth
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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