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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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. spring — a coil
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — the animal
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. spring — the season
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. track — a path
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. face — part of the head
  14. club — for dancing
  15. face — to confront
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. face — to point toward
  18. club — for golf
  19. track — to keep track
  20. net — in sport
  21. club — a group
  22. stock — shares
  23. spring — of water
  24. track — a song

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