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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 116 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — after costs
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to click
  11. court — for sport
  12. kid — child
  13. stock — shares
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stock — goods
  16. net — in sport
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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