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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. net — in sport
  4. last — finally
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — a video
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bound — tied together
  13. last — final
  14. stock — shares
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. clip — for paper
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. march — the month
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. last — to go on
  22. vault — a safe
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — certain

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