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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bore — to drill
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. degree — from a university
  7. prune — to trim
  8. degree — an amount
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — in sport
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. game — wild animals
  14. net — for catching
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. lean — to bend
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. net — in sport
  19. bore — to tire
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — temperature
  22. saw — the tool
  23. lean — thin
  24. game — a match

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