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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 116 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. press — a publisher
  4. race — the arms race
  5. wound — an injury
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. race — a contest
  8. stock — shares
  9. row — a line
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. net — after costs
  12. row — to paddle
  13. press — newspapers
  14. stock — goods
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. race — humankind
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. net — for catching
  19. content — the amount
  20. press — to push
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. content — happy
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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