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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bass — low music
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. pit — a hole
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. stock — shares
  10. hand — help
  11. field — a subject
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. craft — a skill
  15. field — for sport
  16. net — in sport
  17. craft — boats
  18. stock — goods
  19. pit — in a race
  20. hand — in cards
  21. net — for catching
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. field — farmland

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