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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 116 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. net — after costs
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. spell — letters
  5. net — for catching
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. land — ground
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. rush — hurry
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. land — a country
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. pitch — completely
  14. scale — in music
  15. net — in sport
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. spell — magic
  18. stock — shares
  19. land — to come down
  20. pound — a weight
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. spell — a short time
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. scale — size or range

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