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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pit — in a race
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cold — an illness
  6. net — for catching
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fall — the season
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pit — a hole
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. net — in sport
  19. kid — to tease
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kid — child
  24. fall — to drop

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