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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. game — a match
  6. shower — rain
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chair — a leader
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cold — not warm
  12. net — in sport
  13. firm — decided
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cold — an illness
  18. hand — help
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. game — wild animals
  21. firm — steady
  22. net — for catching
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. firm — a company

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