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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. chest — of your body
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. board — a committee
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. scale — size or range
  12. net — for catching
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. degree — from a university
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. chest — a box
  17. degree — temperature
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. scale — in music
  20. net — in sport
  21. board — to get on
  22. clip — to cut
  23. snap — to click
  24. degree — an amount

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