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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. march — the month
  3. capital — money
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. net — for catching
  6. race — humankind
  7. cell — in biology
  8. band — a music group
  9. capital — a city
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. march — music
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. race — a contest
  19. net — in sport
  20. cell — a phone
  21. band — a ring
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. race — the arms race
  24. mouse — for a computer

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