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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pit — a hole
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. foot — a measure
  7. wind — moving air
  8. tear — to rip
  9. game — a match
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. pit — in a race
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. wind — moving air
  24. foot — part of the body

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