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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — for catching
  4. game — a match
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. field — farmland
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. last — finally
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. game — wild animals
  12. field — a subject
  13. last — to go on
  14. net — in sport
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. field — for sport
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. chair — a leader
  20. toast — bread
  21. last — final
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. shower — rain
  24. date — the fruit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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