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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 120 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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. net — after costs
  3. kid — child
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. ground — a position
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. craft — boats
  8. net — for catching
  9. ground — the earth
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. firm — decided
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. fork — in a road
  16. kid — to tease
  17. ground — crushed
  18. craft — a skill
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. net — in sport
  21. firm — steady
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — wild animals

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