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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. net — after costs
  4. chest — of your body
  5. net — in sport
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. capital — a city
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. chest — a box
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. capital — money
  19. fork — in a road
  20. chest — of your body
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. net — for catching

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