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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. net — in sport
  3. stock — shares
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. wind — moving air
  6. game — a match
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. current — of water
  12. game — wild animals
  13. current — electric
  14. current — happening now
  15. net — after costs
  16. stock — goods
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. net — for catching
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. wave — of the sea

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