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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. cell — in biology
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. last — to go on
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. last — final
  8. land — ground
  9. mate — a friend
  10. stock — goods
  11. cell — a phone
  12. net — in sport
  13. mate — a partner
  14. net — after costs
  15. land — to come down
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. mate — to breed
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. net — for catching
  21. last — finally
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. land — a country
  24. lash — to lash out

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