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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. club — for dancing
  3. last — final
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. club — for golf
  6. shower — rain
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. craft — boats
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. current — happening now
  12. last — finally
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. bat — the animal
  15. shower — to wash
  16. current — of water
  17. current — electric
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. craft — a skill
  20. net — for catching
  21. club — a group
  22. net — in sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. last — to go on

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