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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. wound — an injury
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stock — goods
  9. cold — not warm
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — an illness
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stock — shares
  18. land — a country
  19. bat — the animal
  20. land — to come down
  21. clip — a video
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. land — ground
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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