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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. spring — a coil
  3. net — after costs
  4. spring — the season
  5. bear — the animal
  6. fine — high quality
  7. shower — to wash
  8. file — a line of people
  9. stock — shares
  10. net — for catching
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. fine — all right
  13. stock — goods
  14. content — happy
  15. bear — the animal
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. file — a tool
  19. spring — of water
  20. net — in sport
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. shower — rain
  24. fine — a penalty

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