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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 drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. net — after costs
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stem — to come from
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. net — in sport
  14. saw — the tool
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. chair — a leader
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bat — the animal
  24. net — for catching

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