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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. track — to keep track
  4. chest — of your body
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — in sport
  7. spell — letters
  8. shower — to wash
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. track — a path
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. chest — of your body
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. tube — the underground
  16. track — a song
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. prune — to trim
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. spell — a short time
  21. chest — a box
  22. spell — magic
  23. tube — a container
  24. shower — rain

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