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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 120 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. race — humankind
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. net — for catching
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. race — a contest
  7. track — a path
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cap — a lid
  10. hand — help
  11. lean — to bend
  12. track — to keep track
  13. lean — thin
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bat — the animal
  17. track — a song
  18. dip — to sink
  19. race — the arms race
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cap — of ice
  23. net — in sport
  24. hand — in cards

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