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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. charge — a price
  4. net — in sport
  5. fall — the season
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. bat — the animal
  8. field — for sport
  9. lean — thin
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. net — for catching
  12. charge — electricity
  13. fork — in a road
  14. charge — in control
  15. field — farmland
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. field — a subject
  18. fall — to drop
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — to crush
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. fall — to drop
  23. lean — to bend
  24. squash — the sport

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