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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 116 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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. bat — the animal
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. pass — a permit
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pop — soda
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a hat
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pop — music
  17. dip — to sink
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. sharp — clever
  24. net — in sport

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