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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chest — of your body
  3. net — in sport
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. chest — a box
  7. band — a ring
  8. stock — shares
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stock — goods
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. band — a music group
  13. hand — in cards
  14. key — in music
  15. chest — of your body
  16. key — for a lock
  17. net — after costs
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. key — the most important part
  20. hand — help
  21. staff — employees
  22. net — for catching
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. staff — a stick

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