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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. suit — to fit
  6. net — for catching
  7. tube — the underground
  8. net — in sport
  9. pound — a weight
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kick — in football
  13. perch — the fish
  14. tube — a container
  15. cell — a phone
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. suit — in cards
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. capital — money
  23. suit — clothes
  24. cell — in biology

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