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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. rush — hurry
  4. net — after costs
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. net — in sport
  8. foot — a measure
  9. stock — shares
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. clip — a video
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. stock — goods
  19. clip — to cut
  20. sharp — clever
  21. net — for catching
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. clip — for paper
  24. foot — the bottom

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