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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. fall — to drop
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. net — in sport
  7. pit — a hole
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. game — a match
  11. fall — the season
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pit — in a race
  14. stock — goods
  15. net — for catching
  16. stock — shares
  17. staff — employees
  18. game — wild animals
  19. present — the time now
  20. fall — to drop
  21. present — a gift
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. present — there
  24. net — after costs

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