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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 116 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.

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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. row — a line
  3. net — for catching
  4. tube — the underground
  5. net — in sport
  6. game — a match
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. clip — a video
  11. row — to paddle
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tube — a container
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. game — wild animals

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