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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.

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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. net — after costs
  3. rule — a law
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — for catching
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. date — the fruit
  11. rule — government
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. toast — bread

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