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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. chest — a box
  3. kick — in football
  4. tube — the underground
  5. present — a gift
  6. shower — rain
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. net — for catching
  10. hand — in cards
  11. deal — to handle
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. tube — a container
  17. present — the time now
  18. present — there
  19. net — in sport
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. hand — help
  24. shower — to wash

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