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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 116 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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wake — a trail
  5. clip — to cut
  6. pop — music
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. pop — soda
  11. net — for catching
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — a contest
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pop — to visit
  16. squash — the sport
  17. race — humankind
  18. fall — to drop
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. stock — goods
  21. fall — the season
  22. clip — a video
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. stock — shares

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