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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bound — tied together
  3. key — in music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. key — the most important part
  7. mate — to breed
  8. net — for catching
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bound — certain
  12. mate — a partner
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. rest — what's left
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mate — a friend
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bound — obliged
  19. net — in sport
  20. key — for a lock
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — a break
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bat — the animal

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