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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — in sport
  3. current — of water
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bass — low music
  6. face — to confront
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bass — the fish
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. rush — hurry
  13. face — part of the head
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. current — happening now
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. current — electric
  21. mine — for digging
  22. net — for catching
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. face — to point toward

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