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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. scale — in music
  3. net — in sport
  4. hand — in cards
  5. net — after costs
  6. prune — to trim
  7. scale — size or range
  8. club — for golf
  9. root — of a plant
  10. chest — a box
  11. prune — to trim
  12. track — a path
  13. track — a song
  14. club — a group
  15. root — of a word
  16. chest — of your body
  17. club — for dancing
  18. track — to keep track
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. root — the cause
  23. chest — of your body
  24. scale — for weighing

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