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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. saw — the tool
  3. staff — employees
  4. prune — to trim
  5. capital — a city
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. capital — money
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. chest — of your body
  13. net — after costs
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. prune — to trim
  17. net — for catching
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. staff — a stick
  22. staff — employees
  23. saw — the tool
  24. fan — to cool the air

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