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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fork — in a road
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. clip — a video
  6. pit — a hole
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. band — a ring
  9. field — a subject
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. field — farmland
  13. stock — shares
  14. stock — goods
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. pit — in a race
  19. can — to be able to
  20. field — for sport
  21. clip — to cut
  22. band — a music group
  23. kick — in football
  24. can — a tin

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