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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. net — after costs
  3. track — a path
  4. net — in sport
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. track — a song
  7. wake — a trail
  8. date — the fruit
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. file — a tool
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. season — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — rain
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. file — a document
  20. season — of the year
  21. stock — goods
  22. file — a line of people
  23. track — to keep track
  24. stock — shares

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