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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. net — after costs
  3. lean — to bend
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. present — a gift
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. cell — in biology
  9. tube — the underground
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. sharp — clever
  15. present — there
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — in sport
  18. lean — thin
  19. tube — a container
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. present — the time now
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. game — a match

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