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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stock — shares
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. march — music
  6. kick — in football
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. stock — goods
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. march — the month
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. clip — to cut
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chest — a box
  15. prune — to trim
  16. staff — employees
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. clip — for paper
  19. staff — a stick
  20. march — the month
  21. chest — of your body
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. clip — a video
  24. staff — employees

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