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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. band — a ring
  4. ground — the earth
  5. face — part of the head
  6. band — a music group
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pop — music
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pop — to visit
  12. scale — in music
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. pound — a weight
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — to point toward
  22. ground — a position
  23. scale — size or range
  24. pop — soda

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