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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. bass — the fish
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. net — after costs
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. last — final
  9. spring — of water
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. net — in sport
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bass — low music
  14. net — for catching
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. spring — the season
  18. stock — shares
  19. last — finally
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. last — to go on
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spring — a coil

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