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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. march — the month
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. vault — a safe
  7. chair — a leader
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. prune — to trim
  10. net — for catching
  11. prune — to trim
  12. march — the month
  13. face — to point toward
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. march — music
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. net — in sport
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — part of the head
  24. wound — an injury

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