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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  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. last — finally
  2. net — after costs
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — the fish
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. chest — of your body
  7. last — to go on
  8. rush — hurry
  9. bass — low music
  10. press — newspapers
  11. chest — of your body
  12. press — a publisher
  13. net — in sport
  14. press — to push
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. chest — a box
  17. bear — the animal
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. last — final
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. bear — the animal
  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