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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. race — a contest
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. file — a tool
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. net — for catching
  7. saw — the tool
  8. file — a document
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. file — a line of people
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — size or range
  15. race — the arms race
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. saw — the tool
  20. race — humankind
  21. bat — the animal
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. bat — for baseball
  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