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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. snap — to click
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bound — tied together
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a document
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — in music
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wake — a trail
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. net — in sport
  18. chair — a leader
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. net — for catching
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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