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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — in sport
  4. tear — to rip
  5. stock — goods
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. stock — shares
  10. tear — from crying
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a document
  20. net — after costs
  21. scale — in music
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. ruler — for measuring

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