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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. mate — a friend
  6. pop — music
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bulb — for light
  9. stock — shares
  10. hand — help
  11. pop — soda
  12. net — after costs
  13. capital — a city
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. mate — a partner
  19. bulb — for light
  20. wake — a trail
  21. capital — money
  22. mate — to breed
  23. net — for catching
  24. pop — to visit

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