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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. current — electric
  3. game — wild animals
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — in sport
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. stock — goods
  10. cap — a hat
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. current — of water
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — shares
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. net — for catching
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. fine — all right
  19. cap — of ice
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. current — happening now
  22. game — a match
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cell — a phone

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