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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. net — in sport
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — to recline
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. track — to keep track
  8. stock — shares
  9. stock — goods
  10. net — after costs
  11. cold — an illness
  12. perch — the fish
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — the arms race
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — for catching
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. track — a song
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. chair — a leader

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