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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pass — a permit
  3. saw — the tool
  4. perch — the fish
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. face — to confront
  9. net — in sport
  10. saw — the tool
  11. spring — of water
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. net — for catching
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. spring — the season
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to point toward
  23. spring — a coil
  24. game — wild animals

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