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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. prune — to trim
  4. chest — a box
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. net — for catching
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. net — in sport
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. chest — of your body
  12. field — farmland
  13. prune — to trim
  14. suit — clothes
  15. mine — for digging
  16. suit — to fit
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. chest — of your body
  19. field — for sport
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. suit — in cards
  23. field — a subject
  24. plane — a tool

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