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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. key — in music
  3. tear — to rip
  4. staff — employees
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. net — in sport
  7. spring — of water
  8. net — for catching
  9. spell — letters
  10. chair — a leader
  11. spell — magic
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spell — a short time
  14. key — the most important part
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. spring — the season
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rash — a series
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. spring — a coil
  23. key — for a lock
  24. rash — hasty

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