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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. bore — to drill
  5. band — a music group
  6. rush — hurry
  7. file — a line of people
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. wound — an injury
  10. net — for catching
  11. lean — thin
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. file — a tool
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. file — a document
  16. wound — an injury
  17. lean — to bend
  18. band — a ring
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. net — in sport
  22. court — of law
  23. bore — to tire
  24. rush — a thrill

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