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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. perch — for a bird
  2. net — after costs
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. perch — the fish
  6. present — the time now
  7. rule — government
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chair — a leader
  13. rule — a law
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. present — there
  16. present — a gift
  17. net — in sport
  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