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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. spring — the season
  4. bound — certain
  5. spring — a coil
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bound — obliged
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. stock — shares
  12. can — a tin
  13. can — to be able to
  14. stock — goods
  15. chest — a box
  16. stand — to bear
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spring — of water
  20. can — a tin
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bound — tied together
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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