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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. clip — a video
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. fall — the season
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. tube — the underground
  9. fall — to drop
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bound — certain
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stock — goods
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. kid — child
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. tube — a container
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — tied together

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