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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. march — music
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. fall — to drop
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. net — for catching
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. march — the month
  14. rush — hurry
  15. net — in sport
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. fall — the season
  19. chest — a box
  20. march — the month
  21. fall — to drop
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. wax — to grow
  24. snap — to click

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