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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pit — a hole
  3. mate — a partner
  4. foot — a measure
  5. wind — moving air
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. chest — of your body
  8. capital — money
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. pit — in a race
  12. capital — a city
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. wind — moving air
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. net — for catching
  17. mate — a friend
  18. wax — to grow
  19. chest — of your body
  20. net — in sport
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. mate — to breed
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. chest — a box

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