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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. deal — to handle
  3. bound — certain
  4. clip — for paper
  5. march — the month
  6. bound — obliged
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bound — tied together
  9. stock — goods
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. march — the month
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. clip — a video
  19. mine — for digging
  20. march — music
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. stock — shares
  24. clip — to cut

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