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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bound — certain
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. present — a gift
  7. bound — obliged
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. scale — size or range
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bound — tied together
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. net — for catching
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — in biology
  20. present — there
  21. scale — in music
  22. present — the time now
  23. net — in sport
  24. date — the fruit

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