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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 120 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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — in sport
  3. band — a music group
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chip — to eat
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. kid — child
  9. mark — a trace
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. perch — the fish
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. cell — a phone
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. chip — for betting
  16. cell — in biology
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. band — a ring
  21. mark — a grade
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. net — for catching

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