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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. stock — goods
  4. drill — the tool
  5. spring — the season
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cue — for pool
  9. sharp — clever
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. net — for catching
  12. stock — shares
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cue — a signal
  15. spring — of water
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. cue — a hint
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. net — in sport
  21. drill — a practice
  22. saw — the tool
  23. drill — army training
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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