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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. net — after costs
  3. spring — of water
  4. pit — in a race
  5. net — in sport
  6. mine — for digging
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — employees
  9. net — for catching
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. staff — a stick
  17. spring — a coil
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. spring — the season
  22. scale — in music
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ruler — for measuring

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