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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. tube — a container
  3. net — in sport
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. craft — a skill
  7. foot — a measure
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. net — for catching
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. stock — shares
  13. craft — boats
  14. can — a tin
  15. can — a tin
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tube — the underground
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. can — to be able to
  22. stock — goods
  23. rash — a series
  24. cold — not warm

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