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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. track — a path
  9. squash — the sport
  10. lie — to recline
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. track — a song
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. content — the amount
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bass — low music
  17. squash — to crush
  18. track — to keep track
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. capital — a city
  23. net — in sport
  24. coach — a trainer

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