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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. cold — an illness
  3. tear — to rip
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cell — in biology
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — for catching
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — from crying
  12. drill — the tool
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cell — a phone
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. drill — a practice
  18. spell — magic
  19. drill — army training
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. spell — a short time
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. spell — letters

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