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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. chip — to eat
  3. kid — child
  4. press — a publisher
  5. land — ground
  6. root — of a word
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. file — a tool
  9. chip — for betting
  10. press — newspapers
  11. root — of a plant
  12. press — to push
  13. land — to come down
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. file — a line of people
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. root — the cause
  19. current — happening now
  20. net — in sport
  21. file — a document
  22. kid — to tease
  23. net — for catching
  24. land — a country

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