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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. spell — letters
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fine — all right
  7. stock — shares
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. stock — goods
  10. clip — to cut
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. net — after costs
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. face — part of the head
  15. spell — magic
  16. face — to point toward
  17. spell — a short time
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. face — to confront
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. fine — high quality
  24. fine — a penalty

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