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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bass — the fish
  3. scale — size or range
  4. net — for catching
  5. wake — a trail
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. track — a song
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. game — a match
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. band — a music group
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. track — to keep track
  16. scale — in music
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bass — low music
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. band — a ring
  23. net — in sport
  24. track — a path

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