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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. cell — in biology
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. net — for catching
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. net — in sport
  11. clip — to cut
  12. net — after costs
  13. stock — goods
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a leader
  17. clip — a video
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. clip — for paper
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. stock — shares
  24. cell — in a prison

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