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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. kid — child
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. press — a publisher
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — in golf
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — a weight
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. stock — shares
  16. clip — a video
  17. kid — to tease
  18. swing — to play on
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — to push
  21. row — to paddle
  22. clip — for paper
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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