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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. stock — shares
  4. march — music
  5. net — for catching
  6. file — a tool
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. march — the month
  9. squash — to crush
  10. march — the month
  11. file — a document
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — in sport
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. file — a line of people
  20. squash — the sport
  21. wound — an injury
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. content — the amount
  24. stock — goods

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