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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  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. hand — in cards
  2. cell — a phone
  3. net — in sport
  4. land — a country
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. land — ground
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. stock — shares
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. clip — for paper
  15. net — for catching
  16. cell — in biology
  17. net — after costs
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. land — to come down
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. safe — a strongbox
  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