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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. net — for catching
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. game — wild animals
  7. land — to come down
  8. tear — from crying
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. tear — to rip
  12. land — a country
  13. stock — goods
  14. net — after costs
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. deal — to handle
  19. land — ground
  20. stock — shares
  21. mine — for digging
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. net — in sport
  24. tear — from crying

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