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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — after costs
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. lean — thin
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lean — to bend
  9. bass — low music
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bass — the fish
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. capital — a city
  17. net — in sport
  18. vault — a safe
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bear — the animal
  21. date — the fruit
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. capital — money

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