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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. cue — a hint
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bark — to shout
  6. firm — a company
  7. firm — decided
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pitch — completely
  10. firm — steady
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cue — a signal
  14. net — for catching
  15. kid — child
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. row — to paddle
  19. spring — of water
  20. net — in sport
  21. row — a line
  22. spring — the season
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. cue — for pool

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