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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. club — for dancing
  3. net — after costs
  4. sharp — clever
  5. cell — in biology
  6. club — for golf
  7. mate — to breed
  8. cell — a phone
  9. root — of a word
  10. mine — for digging
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. net — for catching
  15. club — a group
  16. mate — a partner
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. mate — a friend
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. kid — child
  21. root — of a plant
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. root — the cause

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