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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. clip — a video
  6. stock — shares
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cold — an illness
  9. clip — for paper
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. pop — to visit
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. pop — soda
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stock — goods
  19. cold — not warm
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. bulb — for light
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. pop — music

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