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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. mate — a friend
  4. deal — to handle
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chest — of your body
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. mate — to breed
  13. net — in sport
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. dip — to sink
  16. mate — a partner
  17. tear — from crying
  18. chest — a box
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — an illness
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. net — for catching
  24. chest — of your body

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