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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. saw — the tool
  3. net — after costs
  4. fall — the season
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. present — a gift
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a match
  10. net — for catching
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. present — there
  14. bat — the animal
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. chest — a box
  22. fall — to drop
  23. net — in sport
  24. fall — to drop

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