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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. key — the most important part
  5. tear — to rip
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. tear — from crying
  9. shower — rain
  10. ground — crushed
  11. net — for catching
  12. tear — from crying
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. key — in music
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. ground — the earth
  18. key — for a lock

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