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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — goods
  4. clip — a video
  5. degree — an amount
  6. rock — music
  7. clip — to cut
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. face — part of the head
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. clip — for paper
  12. ball — a dance
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. ball — a great time
  16. tear — from crying
  17. face — to confront
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. face — to point toward
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. tear — to rip
  24. rock — a stone

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