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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — after costs
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. chip — for betting
  8. kid — child
  9. stock — goods
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. rest — what's left
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rest — what's left
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. net — in sport
  17. stock — shares
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rest — a break
  23. chip — to eat
  24. kid — to tease

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