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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — a country
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mine — for digging
  7. land — to come down
  8. tear — to rip
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. tear — from crying
  11. net — for catching
  12. pit — a hole
  13. hand — in cards
  14. pit — in a race
  15. land — ground
  16. tear — from crying
  17. hand — help
  18. mine — an explosive

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