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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. net — after costs
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. net — for catching
  5. rush — hurry
  6. bass — low music
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. deal — to handle
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. object — to protest
  11. net — in sport
  12. chest — of your body
  13. object — an aim
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. chest — a box
  19. ball — a great time
  20. object — a thing
  21. ball — a dance
  22. capital — money
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. bass — the fish

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