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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 120 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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. fall — the season
  8. chest — of your body
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. net — in sport
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. rock — music
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rock — a stone
  17. chest — a box
  18. net — for catching

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