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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. game — wild animals
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. chest — of your body
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. net — after costs
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. degree — an amount
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. degree — from a university
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. degree — temperature
  13. season — in sport
  14. net — for catching
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. season — of the year
  19. game — a match
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. net — in sport
  24. game — a kind of play

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