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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.

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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — a series
  3. fine — all right
  4. net — after costs
  5. spring — of water
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. cap — a lid
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. net — for catching
  13. cap — of ice
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. net — in sport
  16. cap — a hat
  17. fine — high quality
  18. fine — a penalty

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