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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. pop — soda
  3. bound — tied together
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — a video
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stock — goods
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bound — obliged
  15. court — of law
  16. club — for dancing
  17. tear — to rip
  18. pop — music
  19. club — a group
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bound — certain
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of a king
  24. club — for golf

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