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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. net — after costs
  3. game — a match
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — a leader
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. net — in sport
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pop — soda
  13. net — for catching
  14. game — wild animals
  15. pop — music
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. pop — to visit

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