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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. chest — of your body
  3. net — after costs
  4. can — a tin
  5. can — a tin
  6. net — in sport
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cap — a hat
  13. pitch — completely
  14. cap — of ice
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. cap — a lid
  17. chest — a box
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. net — for catching
  22. bulb — for light
  23. date — the fruit
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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