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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. chip — to eat
  3. saw — the tool
  4. club — for dancing
  5. net — after costs
  6. present — a gift
  7. present — the time now
  8. net — for catching
  9. club — for golf
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stock — goods
  13. drill — the tool
  14. wind — moving air
  15. club — a group
  16. present — there
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. net — in sport
  20. chip — for betting
  21. stock — shares
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — a practice
  24. chip — in a computer

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