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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. lie — to recline
  3. net — for catching
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. land — ground
  6. band — a ring
  7. net — after costs
  8. land — to come down
  9. file — a line of people
  10. hand — help
  11. band — a music group
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. land — a country
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. pitch — completely
  18. kick — in football
  19. file — a document
  20. hand — in cards
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. file — a tool
  24. kick — with a leg

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