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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. net — after costs
  3. club — for dancing
  4. net — in sport
  5. rest — what's left
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. rest — a break
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wound — an injury
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. club — a group
  12. club — for golf
  13. net — for catching
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bass — low music
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bass — the fish
  18. land — ground
  19. rest — what's left
  20. land — a country
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. wound — an injury

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