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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  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. stock — shares
  2. net — after costs
  3. tear — from crying
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. tear — to rip
  6. wind — moving air
  7. row — to paddle
  8. net — for catching
  9. row — a line
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. last — finally
  13. wind — moving air
  14. net — in sport
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wake — a trail
  18. last — to go on
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. stock — goods
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. last — final
  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