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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 120 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. field — farmland
  3. bass — the fish
  4. pound — a weight
  5. fall — to drop
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stock — goods
  9. saw — the tool
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. stock — shares
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. fall — the season
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bass — low music
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. saw — the tool
  20. field — a subject
  21. kick — in football
  22. clip — a video
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. field — for sport

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