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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. last — finally
  2. net — after costs
  3. last — to go on
  4. net — in sport
  5. object — a thing
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. net — for catching
  12. pound — a weight
  13. cell — a phone
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. object — to protest
  17. last — final
  18. object — an aim
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. cell — in biology
  22. kick — in football
  23. field — farmland
  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