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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. bass — the fish
  3. clip — a video
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. bass — low music
  7. stem — to come from
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. march — the month
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. march — the month
  12. spell — letters
  13. stock — goods
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. march — music
  19. hand — in cards
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. spell — magic
  22. hand — help
  23. spell — a short time
  24. bass — the instrument

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