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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. field — for sport
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pound — a weight
  10. chip — to eat
  11. scale — size or range
  12. net — in sport
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. net — for catching
  15. field — farmland
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. chip — for betting
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. scale — in music
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. lie — to recline
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. field — a subject

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