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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. game — wild animals
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. stock — goods
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. race — humankind
  15. net — after costs
  16. game — a match
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. race — a contest
  19. net — in sport
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. plane — a tool
  22. race — the arms race
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. net — for catching

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