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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. ground — crushed
  6. charge — a price
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. ground — a position
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. last — to go on
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. plane — a tool
  13. clip — to cut
  14. net — for catching
  15. charge — in control
  16. perch — the fish
  17. last — finally
  18. net — in sport
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. ground — the earth
  21. clip — for paper
  22. last — final
  23. charge — electricity
  24. clip — a video

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