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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. file — a line of people
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. squash — to crush
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rock — music
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. file — a tool
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wax — to grow
  11. sharp — clever
  12. rock — a stone
  13. file — a document
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. staff — employees
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. staff — employees
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. staff — a stick
  20. net — in sport
  21. bat — the animal
  22. net — for catching
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. wax — in the ear

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