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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. net — in sport
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — shares
  5. present — the time now
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. net — after costs
  8. mine — for digging
  9. march — the month
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — not warm
  12. net — for catching
  13. present — a gift
  14. sharp — clever
  15. wind — moving air
  16. present — there
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. stock — goods
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. stock — a soup base

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