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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. face — to confront
  3. rock — music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. stock — goods
  10. net — for catching
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stock — shares
  14. row — a line
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. rock — a stone
  19. face — to point toward
  20. wind — moving air
  21. net — in sport
  22. fork — in a road
  23. face — part of the head
  24. net — after costs

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