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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. current — electric
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. stock — goods
  8. degree — temperature
  9. stock — shares
  10. foot — a measure
  11. net — in sport
  12. staff — employees
  13. net — for catching
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. chest — of your body
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. degree — from a university
  19. current — happening now
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. degree — an amount
  23. current — of water
  24. row — to paddle

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