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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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. deal — a big deal
  4. stand — to bear
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. hand — help
  7. chest — of your body
  8. net — in sport
  9. kid — to tease
  10. game — a match
  11. game — wild animals
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. chest — of your body
  14. deal — to handle
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. chest — a box
  17. last — final
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. kid — child
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — finally
  22. hand — in cards
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. deal — an agreement

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