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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stock — shares
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. last — to go on
  5. chest — of your body
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. last — final
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. last — finally
  11. toast — bread
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. stock — goods
  15. net — for catching
  16. chest — a box
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a match

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