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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. spell — letters
  4. fork — in a road
  5. field — for sport
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. spell — magic
  8. file — a line of people
  9. mine — for digging
  10. net — in sport
  11. spell — a short time
  12. net — for catching
  13. field — a subject
  14. vault — a safe
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — help
  23. field — farmland
  24. fork — a garden tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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