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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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. mine — for digging
  6. net — after costs
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. net — in sport
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. sharp — clever
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stock — shares
  13. net — for catching
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. drill — a practice
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. drill — army training
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. stock — goods
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. drill — the tool

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