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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 116 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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — in sport
  3. drill — a practice
  4. drill — the tool
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. content — happy
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. game — a match
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bear — the animal
  16. pitch — completely
  17. bat — the animal
  18. drill — army training
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. bear — the animal
  21. net — for catching
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. game — wild animals
  24. content — the amount

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