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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. net — for catching
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. net — in sport
  7. plane — a tool
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. band — a ring
  11. saw — the tool
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. saw — the tool
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bear — the animal
  17. band — a music group
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. fall — to drop
  22. chest — a box
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bear — the animal

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