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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 got himself in a ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. cue — for pool
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. stock — goods
  6. cue — a hint
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. mark — a trace
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wind — moving air
  13. capital — a city
  14. cue — a signal
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mark — a grade
  17. capital — money
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. stock — shares
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. clip — to cut

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