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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. chest — a box
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. ball — a dance
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cue — a hint
  8. ball — a great time
  9. shower — to wash
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. shower — rain
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. net — for catching
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. chest — of your body
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cue — a signal
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. chest — of your body
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. net — in sport
  24. cue — for pool

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