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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — a series
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. shower — to wash
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. court — of law
  11. court — for sport
  12. net — in sport
  13. wind — moving air
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. net — for catching
  18. wind — moving air
  19. court — of a king
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. deal — to handle

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