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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. rash — hasty
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. net — after costs
  6. race — a contest
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. spring — a coil
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — for catching
  12. pound — a weight
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. staff — employees
  15. spring — of water
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. race — humankind
  19. net — in sport
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. spring — the season
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pound — for dogs

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