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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. date — the fruit
  7. march — the month
  8. bass — the fish
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. present — there
  11. bass — low music
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. chair — a leader
  15. present — the time now
  16. row — a line
  17. present — a gift
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. row — to paddle
  24. date — on the calendar

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