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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. swing — in golf
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. chest — a box
  6. chair — a leader
  7. swing — music
  8. swing — to play on
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rash — a series
  11. field — for sport
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bulb — for light
  16. net — in sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. game — a match
  19. bulb — for light
  20. field — farmland
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. chest — of your body

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