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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. chair — a leader
  3. game — a match
  4. rash — a series
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. game — wild animals
  7. prune — to trim
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. net — in sport
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. net — for catching
  14. land — ground
  15. rash — hasty
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. land — a country
  21. sharp — clever
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. land — to come down

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