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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. squash — the sport
  3. clip — a video
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bound — certain
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. squash — to crush
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. bound — tied together
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. clip — for paper
  18. scale — in music
  19. clip — to cut
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. bound — obliged
  23. date — the fruit
  24. stock — goods

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