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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — in sport
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. shower — rain
  5. band — a ring
  6. cap — of ice
  7. band — a music group
  8. rush — hurry
  9. shower — to wash
  10. race — a contest
  11. chest — a box
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. race — humankind
  16. net — for catching
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. race — the arms race
  19. dip — to sink
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — a hat
  24. dip — to dunk

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