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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. net — after costs
  4. root — of a plant
  5. net — for catching
  6. root — of a word
  7. firm — a company
  8. firm — steady
  9. race — humankind
  10. date — the fruit
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — goods
  13. root — the cause
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. stock — shares
  16. race — a contest
  17. firm — decided
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. race — the arms race
  21. game — wild animals
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. net — in sport
  24. date — on the calendar

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