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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bass — low music
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pit — a hole
  7. stock — shares
  8. cell — in biology
  9. ground — a position
  10. bass — the fish
  11. clip — a video
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. pit — in a race
  15. stock — goods
  16. season — of the year
  17. pitch — completely
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. ground — crushed
  22. cell — a phone
  23. ground — the earth
  24. season — in sport

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