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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. mate — to breed
  3. pit — in a race
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. row — a line
  7. wind — moving air
  8. net — for catching
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. chair — a leader
  11. staff — employees
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. mate — a partner
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pit — a hole
  19. mate — a friend
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. net — after costs
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. row — to paddle

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