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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. ground — crushed
  3. shower — to wash
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — the earth
  6. stock — goods
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — after costs
  9. game — a match
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. net — for catching
  12. track — a song
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. stock — shares
  15. game — wild animals
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. track — to keep track
  22. shower — rain
  23. track — a path
  24. stem — a stem cell

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