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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. mug — a face
  3. capital — a city
  4. net — for catching
  5. mug — to rob
  6. charge — a price
  7. fall — to drop
  8. charge — electricity
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. wound — an injury
  11. charge — in control
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. capital — money
  14. mug — a cup
  15. wound — an injury
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. fall — the season
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. net — in sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. fall — to drop

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