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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. net — after costs
  3. fine — all right
  4. wake — a trail
  5. chair — a leader
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. stem — to come from
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. track — to keep track
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. file — a tool
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — to tease
  17. track — a song
  18. file — a line of people
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. file — a document
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. track — a path
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. chair — a professorship

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