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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wake — a trail
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wind — moving air
  5. degree — temperature
  6. pit — in a race
  7. net — in sport
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rush — hurry
  13. pit — a hole
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. mine — for digging
  18. degree — an amount
  19. net — for catching
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. degree — from a university
  24. mine — belonging to me

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