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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. tear — from crying
  3. ground — crushed
  4. wind — moving air
  5. net — for catching
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. stock — goods
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. ground — a position
  11. tear — to rip
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. band — a ring
  14. dip — to sink
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. net — after costs
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. tear — from crying
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. stock — shares
  24. pitcher — a jug

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