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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rush — hurry
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cap — a hat
  11. court — of a king
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. clip — a video
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. kick — in football
  18. court — for sport
  19. cap — a lid
  20. mine — for digging
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. cap — of ice
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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