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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: stock · pitch · net · wave · bat · bore · last · perch

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. net — for catching
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — shares
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. net — in sport
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. net — after costs
  14. last — final
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. perch — the fish
  17. last — to go on
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stock — goods
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — completely
  23. bore — to drill
  24. last — finally

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