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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. kid — child
  5. net — for catching
  6. march — music
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. net — in sport
  9. kid — to tease
  10. march — the month
  11. fall — the season
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. can — a tin
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. march — the month
  17. can — a tin
  18. fall — to drop
  19. tear — from crying
  20. can — to be able to
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. fall — to drop
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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