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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. rest — a break
  5. game — a match
  6. rest — what's left
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. net — in sport
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bear — the animal
  14. net — for catching
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. mine — for digging
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rest — what's left
  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