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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — after costs
  4. field — for sport
  5. rest — a break
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. rash — a series
  9. bass — low music
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chair — a leader
  14. field — a subject
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. degree — an amount
  19. field — farmland
  20. net — in sport
  21. rash — hasty
  22. bore — to drill
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bass — the fish

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