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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stock — shares
  3. drill — army training
  4. tear — to rip
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. tear — from crying
  8. season — of the year
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. drill — the tool
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. clip — to cut
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wound — an injury
  18. ball — a dance
  19. season — in sport
  20. ball — a great time
  21. clip — a video
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. drill — a practice
  24. calf — a young animal

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