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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. lean — thin
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. saw — the tool
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. clip — to cut
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. scale — size or range
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. stock — shares
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. fine — high quality
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. saw — the tool
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. clip — a video
  20. stock — goods
  21. scale — in music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. lean — to bend

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