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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. craft — boats
  3. net — in sport
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. court — of law
  8. lie — to recline
  9. club — a group
  10. file — a document
  11. club — for golf
  12. court — for sport
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. club — for dancing
  18. craft — a skill
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. court — of a king
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. net — for catching

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