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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. file — a document
  4. roll — a list
  5. capital — money
  6. field — a subject
  7. stand — to bear
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. field — for sport
  11. roll — a cake
  12. staff — a stick
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. capital — a city
  15. staff — employees
  16. file — a tool
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — in sport
  20. snap — to click
  21. field — farmland
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. staff — employees
  24. file — a line of people

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