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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stock — goods
  4. clip — for paper
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. tear — from crying
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bat — the animal
  10. swing — to play on
  11. chip — for betting
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. chip — to eat
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. swing — music
  17. tear — to rip
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — shares
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. clip — a video
  22. date — the fruit
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bat — for baseball

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