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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. clip — a video
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. stock — goods
  6. net — in sport
  7. snap — to click
  8. pop — soda
  9. prune — to trim
  10. clip — to cut
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. pop — music
  14. file — a line of people
  15. net — after costs
  16. file — a document
  17. clip — for paper
  18. pop — to visit
  19. file — a tool
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. hand — in cards
  23. prune — to trim
  24. net — for catching

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