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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. shower — to wash
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. stock — shares
  5. lean — to bend
  6. clip — for paper
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. clip — to cut
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. roll — a list
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. net — for catching
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. roll — a cake
  16. hand — help
  17. net — in sport
  18. stock — goods
  19. clip — a video
  20. shower — rain
  21. vault — a safe
  22. lean — thin
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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