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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. net — in sport
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. scale — size or range
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. stock — shares
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. hand — help
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. scale — in music
  13. net — for catching
  14. kid — child
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kid — to tease
  17. net — after costs
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. hand — in cards
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — the season
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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