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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. shower — to wash
  3. net — for catching
  4. land — a country
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bear — the animal
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. bear — the animal
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. fork — in a road
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. net — in sport
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. land — ground
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. land — to come down
  22. shower — rain
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. straw — dry grass

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