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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 124 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. kid — child
  3. pit — in a race
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — the arms race
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bat — the animal
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. chip — to eat
  11. chip — for betting
  12. row — to paddle
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. race — a contest
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pit — a hole
  17. dip — to sink
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. net — for catching
  21. kid — to tease
  22. net — in sport
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. bat — for baseball

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