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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 116 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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. clip — for paper
  3. present — the time now
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. spring — a coil
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. stock — shares
  10. land — a country
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — in football
  13. land — to come down
  14. stock — goods
  15. land — ground
  16. present — a gift
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. net — after costs
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. present — there
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. net — for catching
  24. pitcher — a jug

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