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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. pit — a hole
  4. object — to protest
  5. file — a line of people
  6. object — a thing
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. rash — hasty
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — in sport
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. object — an aim
  13. degree — temperature
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. file — a document
  18. band — a music group
  19. degree — from a university
  20. band — a ring
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. file — a tool
  23. pit — in a race
  24. rash — a series

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