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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ball — a great time
  3. board — a committee
  4. cap — of ice
  5. bat — the animal
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cap — a lid
  8. net — for catching
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. spring — of water
  12. board — to get on
  13. file — a line of people
  14. net — in sport
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. file — a tool
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. file — a document
  21. cap — a hat
  22. ball — a dance
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bat — in an idiom

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