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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. land — a country
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. rest — what's left
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. land — ground
  8. rest — a break
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chip — for betting
  12. shower — to wash
  13. drill — a practice
  14. chip — to eat
  15. shower — rain
  16. drill — the tool
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — in sport
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. land — to come down
  24. drill — army training

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