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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bark — to shout
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. swing — to play on
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — music
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. net — for catching
  15. field — for sport
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. stock — shares
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — goods
  21. net — in sport
  22. pitch — completely
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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