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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. shower — rain
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. band — a music group
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. net — in sport
  7. bound — obliged
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. bound — certain
  12. bound — tied together
  13. net — for catching
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. stock — shares
  16. shower — to wash
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. stock — goods
  20. snap — to click
  21. cold — not warm
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. cold — an illness
  24. band — a ring

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