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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. row — to paddle
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — help
  5. cap — of ice
  6. march — music
  7. net — for catching
  8. hand — in cards
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. net — in sport
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — a series
  16. row — a line
  17. march — the month
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. cap — a hat
  23. march — the month
  24. cap — a lid

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