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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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. bank — for money
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. net — for catching
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. court — of law
  10. bank — for money
  11. court — of a king
  12. bank — of a river
  13. wound — an injury
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. fine — all right
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. court — for sport
  21. net — in sport
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. file — a tool
  24. deal — to handle

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