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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. net — after costs
  5. ground — the earth
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stock — shares
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. net — in sport
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wind — moving air
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stock — goods
  17. ground — crushed
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — a container
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. perch — the fish
  22. net — for catching
  23. tube — the underground
  24. ground — a position

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