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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 116 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. spell — magic
  3. hand — help
  4. field — farmland
  5. press — newspapers
  6. tear — to rip
  7. ball — a dance
  8. spell — a short time
  9. field — a subject
  10. tear — from crying
  11. ball — a great time
  12. shower — rain
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. net — in sport
  16. shower — to wash
  17. field — for sport
  18. spell — letters
  19. net — for catching
  20. press — to push
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. press — a publisher

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