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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 116 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. race — a contest
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. chip — for betting
  7. race — humankind
  8. capital — a city
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chip — to eat
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. capital — money
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rest — what's left
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rest — what's left
  23. net — for catching
  24. rest — a break

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