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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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Word bank
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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: content · net · pound · stock · last · spring · pitcher · perch

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. content — happy
  4. last — to go on
  5. perch — the fish
  6. last — finally
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. spring — a coil
  10. content — the amount
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. net — for catching
  14. spring — of water
  15. net — after costs
  16. stock — goods
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. last — final
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spring — the season
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. stock — shares
  24. net — in sport

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