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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. clip — a video
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. rash — hasty
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. sharp — clever
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. rash — a series
  13. clip — to cut
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. stock — goods
  19. clip — for paper
  20. squash — the sport
  21. squash — to crush
  22. spring — of water
  23. stock — shares
  24. game — wild animals

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