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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. last — finally
  3. mug — a face
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. present — a gift
  6. present — the time now
  7. mug — to rob
  8. tear — from crying
  9. track — a song
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. tear — from crying
  14. track — a path
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. last — to go on
  18. mug — a cup
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — for catching
  21. present — there
  22. track — to keep track
  23. tear — to rip
  24. last — final

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