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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 120 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stock — goods
  4. tear — to rip
  5. dip — to sink
  6. net — for catching
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. stock — shares
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. prune — to trim
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. prune — to trim
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. net — in sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. tear — from crying
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. game — a match
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. game — wild animals

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