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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. stock — goods
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. firm — a company
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. file — a document
  7. net — for catching
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. key — for a lock
  10. march — the month
  11. file — a tool
  12. key — in music
  13. march — music
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. net — in sport
  16. file — a line of people
  17. key — the most important part
  18. stock — shares
  19. cold — an illness
  20. firm — decided
  21. cold — not warm
  22. net — after costs
  23. march — the month
  24. plane — a tool

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