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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. net — after costs
  3. rash — a series
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. track — a song
  6. cell — in biology
  7. rash — hasty
  8. lie — to recline
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. net — for catching
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. ground — crushed
  16. track — a path
  17. ground — the earth
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. net — in sport
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cell — a phone
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. bat — for baseball

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