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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. band — a music group
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. drill — the tool
  6. spell — letters
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. present — there
  11. tear — from crying
  12. present — the time now
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. spell — a short time
  16. band — a ring
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — for catching
  19. spell — magic
  20. net — in sport
  21. drill — a practice
  22. present — a gift
  23. drill — army training
  24. chair — a leader

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