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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. net — after costs
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. track — a song
  5. spring — the season
  6. suit — clothes
  7. present — a gift
  8. track — to keep track
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. foot — a measure
  11. suit — to fit
  12. cold — not warm
  13. present — the time now
  14. rash — a series
  15. suit — in cards
  16. net — for catching
  17. present — there
  18. track — a path
  19. spring — a coil
  20. net — in sport
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. spring — of water
  24. cold — the Cold War

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