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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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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: net · fan · content · mug · land · stock · row · cold

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — a face
  5. land — to come down
  6. mug — to rob
  7. land — a country
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. land — ground
  11. stock — shares
  12. net — after costs
  13. content — happy
  14. row — to paddle
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. row — a line
  20. net — for catching
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. content — the amount
  23. stock — goods
  24. cold — an illness

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