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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. clip — a video
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bear — the animal
  6. stock — shares
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — a match
  12. stock — goods
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. row — to paddle
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cell — in biology
  17. deal — to handle
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. row — a line
  23. perch — the fish
  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