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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. bear — the animal
  3. court — for sport
  4. stock — shares
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — completely
  7. stock — goods
  8. court — of law
  9. race — a contest
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. race — humankind
  12. clip — a video
  13. bear — the animal
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — final
  19. court — of a king
  20. last — finally
  21. swing — to play on
  22. race — the arms race
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. swing — in golf

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