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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wind — moving air
  4. net — for catching
  5. drill — army training
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. drill — the tool
  9. kid — child
  10. bass — the fish
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stem — to come from
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. club — a group
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. club — for dancing
  19. bass — low music
  20. wind — moving air
  21. drill — a practice
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. net — in sport
  24. club — for golf

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