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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'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. net — in sport
  4. march — the month
  5. tear — to rip
  6. face — to confront
  7. root — the cause
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. saw — the tool
  10. march — music
  11. face — part of the head
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — of a word
  18. face — to point toward
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. march — the month
  24. net — for catching

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