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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 120 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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. shower — rain
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — goods
  8. tear — from crying
  9. net — after costs
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. net — in sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. foot — a measure
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. tear — to rip
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. net — for catching
  21. tear — from crying
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. racket — for tennis

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