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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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. safe — out of danger
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. perch — the fish
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. ground — crushed
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spell — letters
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. spell — magic
  14. ground — a position
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. ground — the earth
  17. spell — a short time
  18. net — for catching
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. safe — a strongbox

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