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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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. cap — a lid
  4. mate — a partner
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chest — of your body
  8. net — in sport
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. mate — a friend
  12. saw — the tool
  13. shower — rain
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cap — of ice
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. mate — to breed
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cap — a hat
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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