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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. ground — crushed
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. lean — to bend
  6. game — wild animals
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. ground — the earth
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. lean — thin
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. ground — a position
  17. game — a match
  18. racket — for tennis

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