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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. club — a group
  4. bore — to drill
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitch — completely
  9. club — for golf
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pop — soda
  12. net — for catching
  13. pop — music
  14. net — in sport
  15. press — a publisher
  16. ground — a position
  17. club — for dancing
  18. press — to push
  19. pop — to visit
  20. ground — crushed
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. ground — the earth
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bore — to tire

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