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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. key — for a lock
  6. current — electric
  7. deal — to handle
  8. key — the most important part
  9. bound — certain
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — tied together
  13. file — a document
  14. current — happening now
  15. staff — employees
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. row — to paddle
  19. key — in music
  20. row — a line
  21. current — of water
  22. net — for catching
  23. file — a tool
  24. net — after costs

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