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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. mate — to breed
  3. wind — moving air
  4. deal — to handle
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. shower — rain
  7. net — for catching
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. shower — to wash
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. mate — a partner
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. wind — moving air
  14. swing — in golf
  15. chair — a leader
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. net — in sport
  24. mate — a friend

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