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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 124 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. pitch — completely
  4. court — of a king
  5. lean — to bend
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — the earth
  8. date — the fruit
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — a video
  12. stock — shares
  13. clip — to cut
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. lean — thin
  17. court — for sport
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. content — the amount
  20. stock — goods
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. ground — crushed
  23. content — happy
  24. court — of law

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