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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. rush — hurry
  4. saw — the tool
  5. drill — the tool
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — a practice
  18. wind — moving air
  19. net — for catching
  20. saw — the tool
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. net — in sport

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