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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 120 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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rule — a law
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pit — in a race
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. game — a match
  12. prune — to trim
  13. net — in sport
  14. hand — help
  15. stock — goods
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. net — for catching
  19. prune — to trim
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. pit — a hole
  23. sharp — clever
  24. sharp — with an edge

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