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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. fine — high quality
  3. land — to come down
  4. spring — a coil
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. fine — all right
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. net — in sport
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. plane — a tool
  12. rash — a series
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. spring — of water
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. land — ground
  20. land — a country
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. rash — hasty
  23. spring — the season
  24. net — for catching

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