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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · wind · wound · straw · bay · last · net · stock

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wind — moving air
  4. net — in sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. net — for catching
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. stock — shares
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. last — final
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. chair — a leader
  17. stock — goods
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. last — to go on
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. last — finally
  24. bay — a horse colour

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