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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. net — for catching
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. band — a music group
  7. track — a song
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. band — a ring
  10. track — a path
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. race — humankind
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. net — in sport
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. net — after costs
  18. stock — shares
  19. track — to keep track
  20. stock — goods
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wake — a trail
  24. date — the fruit

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