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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. game — wild animals
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bass — low music
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. cap — of ice
  9. stock — shares
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. cap — a hat
  12. squash — to crush
  13. board — to get on
  14. clip — to cut
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. clip — a video
  17. bass — the fish
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. board — a committee
  20. stock — goods
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cap — a lid
  23. squash — the sport
  24. stem — a stem cell

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