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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. file — a document
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. press — a publisher
  12. press — newspapers
  13. chair — a leader
  14. hand — help
  15. press — to push
  16. capital — money
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. capital — a city

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