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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ground — crushed
  3. prune — to trim
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. net — in sport
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. lean — to bend
  12. spell — a short time
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. net — for catching
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — clever
  18. last — finally
  19. prune — to trim
  20. lean — thin
  21. spell — magic
  22. ground — a position
  23. spell — letters
  24. ground — the earth

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