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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. net — after costs
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. content — the amount
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — hurry
  8. stock — shares
  9. track — to keep track
  10. squash — to crush
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. track — a song
  14. net — for catching
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. net — in sport
  17. stock — goods
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — a division
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. squash — the sport
  24. track — a path

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