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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. 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. rush — to hurry
  3. chip — to eat
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cap — a hat
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. ground — crushed
  8. wax — to grow
  9. cap — a lid
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. bark — to shout
  15. chip — for betting
  16. net — in sport
  17. ground — a position
  18. mine — for digging
  19. rush — hurry
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cap — of ice
  24. 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