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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. object — to protest
  3. net — after costs
  4. object — a thing
  5. spell — a short time
  6. object — an aim
  7. mate — a partner
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — in sport
  12. stock — goods
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. mate — a friend
  15. spell — magic
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. spell — letters
  22. mate — to breed
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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