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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. net — after costs
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — to protest
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. net — in sport
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. chest — of your body
  11. net — for catching
  12. chest — a box
  13. pitch — completely
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. object — a thing
  16. sharp — clever
  17. object — an aim
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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