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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. file — a tool
  3. pop — soda
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. file — a document
  7. key — in music
  8. net — in sport
  9. spell — magic
  10. net — for catching
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. file — a line of people
  13. key — the most important part
  14. pop — to visit
  15. spell — letters
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pop — music
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. spell — a short time
  21. bark — to shout
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. key — for a lock
  24. patient — a sick person

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