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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 116 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 light ________________ burned out.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — to cut
  4. capital — a city
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — shares
  7. capital — money
  8. track — to keep track
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bulb — for light
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. clip — a video
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. clip — for paper
  16. season — in sport
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. season — of the year
  20. spring — of water
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. track — a path
  24. spring — the season

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