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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.

Make a worksheet

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: land · stock · stand · wind · spring · net · present · chair

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. spring — a coil
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. present — the time now
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. present — there
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. present — a gift
  10. wind — moving air
  11. net — for catching
  12. stand — to bear
  13. spring — of water
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — goods
  16. land — a country
  17. land — to come down
  18. wind — moving air
  19. land — ground
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a leader
  22. spring — the season
  23. net — in sport
  24. stand — for spectators

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