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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 120 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. spell — a short time
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. spell — magic
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. spring — a coil
  10. net — in sport
  11. spell — letters
  12. swing — to play on
  13. capital — a city
  14. swing — in golf
  15. deal — to handle
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. net — for catching
  19. spring — the season
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. spring — of water
  22. capital — money
  23. swing — music
  24. hand — help

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