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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. land — to come down
  3. ground — the earth
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. drill — the tool
  6. land — ground
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wake — a trail
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. ground — a position
  11. kid — child
  12. ground — crushed
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. current — of water
  16. drill — army training
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. drill — a practice
  19. land — a country
  20. current — electric
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. current — happening now
  24. kid — to tease

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