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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. bat — the animal
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. sharp — clever
  13. cell — in biology
  14. net — in sport
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. race — a contest
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. race — humankind
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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