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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. net — for catching
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. deal — to handle
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. last — finally
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. staff — employees
  13. capital — money
  14. last — final
  15. staff — employees
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. capital — a city
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — an illness
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. wind — moving air
  22. last — to go on
  23. staff — a stick
  24. net — in sport

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