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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. stock — goods
  3. net — in sport
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. stock — shares
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. fork — in a road
  14. bat — the animal
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. band — a ring
  17. dip — to sink
  18. band — a music group
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. net — for catching
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. calf — a young animal

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