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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. net — in sport
  3. mark — a grade
  4. net — for catching
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. stock — shares
  8. row — to paddle
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — ground
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bear — the animal
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. mark — a trace
  19. row — a line
  20. land — a country
  21. wound — an injury
  22. net — after costs
  23. stock — goods
  24. wound — an injury

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