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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 124 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: perch · pitcher · bowl · fine · wind · net · stock · mine

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. net — for catching
  6. mine — for digging
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. stock — shares
  11. fine — all right
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. net — in sport
  14. stock — goods
  15. perch — the fish
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. net — after costs
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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