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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 120 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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. hand — in cards
  4. drill — a practice
  5. suit — to fit
  6. drill — the tool
  7. pit — in a race
  8. cue — for pool
  9. suit — in cards
  10. cue — a signal
  11. suit — clothes
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pit — a hole
  15. hand — help
  16. net — in sport
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. drill — army training
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a line
  23. cue — a hint
  24. net — for catching

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